Kingdom Hearts: The Genderbended Saga
by joshuasumter951
Summary: A retelling of the Kingdom Hearts saga, mostly in sequential order. This time, the character's genders are switched, and the Disney characters change roles. What follows is a tale of the paths of three Keyblade wielders, Terrina, Vinnietus, and Aquarius; the journeys of Sorette, Daisy Duck, and Clarabelle Cow; and even Roxeane, Sorette's Nobody and Organization XIII's 13th member
1. Dramatis Personae

The following is a retelling of the entire _Kingdom Hearts_ saga. This time, KH/FF characters flip sex/gender, Disney characters change roles (Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle swapping roles with Mickey, Donald and Goofy, and the Princesses of Heart being their princes instead, for example).

Some story elements have change. Contains some changes to the dialogues, and comedic writings. But all other Disney things are the same, story-wise.

The story so far is placed in chronological order. Beware – the events are actually settled chronologically, following the exact order of the events of the saga.

* * *

 **DRAMATIS PERSONAE**

 **HEROES**

 **Sorette** \- A girl who wields a Keyblade. She has used its power to save the worlds from crisis more than once.

 **Rika** \- A girl who wields a Keyblade. Her battles to save the worlds have often pitted her against the darkness in her own heart.

 **Kai** \- Sorette and Rika's childhood friend. As one of the seven princes, he became a target of the forces of darkness, but thankfully Sorette and Rika came to the rescue. He is waiting in the Destiny Islands for their safe return.

 **Queen Minnie** \- The queen of Disney Castle and one of the Keyblade Masters. She was among the first to notice something amiss in the worlds and take action.

 **Daisy Duck** \- A lady-in-waiting to Queen Minnie at Disney Castle and Donald's girlfriend. Now knowledgeable in the magical arts from her boyfriend, Donald, and equipped with a staff, Daisy has journeyed with Sorette many times to save the worlds.

 **Clarabelle Cow** \- An old friend of King Mickey, Queen Minnie, and the other folks at Disney Castle. Clarabelle has stuck by Sorette's side through more than one adventure. Being the one that unites the group, Clarabelle combats enemies with her shield as she has a distaste in using weapons.

 **Yen Sid -** A great sorcerer who watches over the balance between light and darkness. He was also King Mickey's teacher, and now Queen Minnie's.

 **King Mickey** \- King of Disney Castle, now ruling in Minnie's absence. Mickey is more concerned than anyone about the queen's disappearance.

 **Donald Duck** \- King Mickey's court magician and a loyal friend. Skilled in magic, but short-tempered and stubborn.

 **Goofy** \- The captain of King Mickey's royal knights and also his good friend. He avoids fighting whenever possible.

 **Terrina*** \- One of three Keyblade wielders who played a pivotal role in a historic clash more than a decade ago. Master Xehanora possessed her body, and although Aquarius saved her, her heart may never find its way back where it belongs. (* **Pronunciations:** **Ter·rina** )

 **Aquarius** \- One of three Keyblade wielders who played a pivotal role in a historic clash more than a dozen years ago. To save a friend, he cast himself into the realm of darkness, never to be seen again.

 **Vinnietus** \- One of three Keyblade wielders who played a pivotal role in a historic clash more than a dozen years ago. Her heart is sleeping, and she has been laid to rest in the secret chamber of Castle Oblivion until someone can wake her up.

* * *

 **VILLAINS**

 **Master Xehanora** \- A former Keyblade Master whose obsession with the Keyblade War led her to give her heart over to darkness. She tried to forge the X-blade and trigger another Keyblade War, but three young Keyblade wielders put a stop to her.

 **Vanita** \- A mysterious girl who hides her face behind a mask. She has ties to Master Xehanora.

 **Heartless** \- Manifestations of the darkness born in people's hearts that threaten to engulf all the worlds into darkness.

 **Nobodies** \- Remaining shells of those who have lost their hearts.

 **Wonas** \- Xehanora's Heartless. She tried to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, but fell to Sorette in the end.

 **Pete** \- An incorrigible troublemaker who was plucked out of his "time out" in Disney Town by none other than Maleficent. He has been her somewhat-sidekick ever since.

 **Maleficent** \- An evil fairy who wishes to see all worlds cast into darkness. She has clashed with more than one Keyblade wielder.

 **Sephira** \- An unsurpassed swordswoman who was once revered as a hero. For a long time Sephira's whereabouts were unknown, and no one can say for sure why she has returned. She seems to have some connection to Cloudia's past.

* * *

 **ORGANIZATION XIII  
** Wearing their black cloaks, this organization of thirteen members sought to become complete again by searching for their hearts. Their true agenda remains in secret...

 **No. I - Wonxas** , the Superior of the In-Between. Enigmatic Master over Nothingness.  
Xehanora's Nobody, who was once leader of Organization XIII. She tried to create Kingdom Hearts from the hearts of people, but Sorette put an end to her plans and the woman herself.

 **No. II - Xiggy** , the Freeshooter. Traverses Between Realms. Skilled at Recon.  
One of Organization XIII's members. As Number II, she has Xehanora's trust above all others. In her human years, she was named Gigy and became a Nobody during a certain experiment.

 **No. III - Xaldia** , the Whirlwind Lancer. Warrior and Tactician. Harnesses the Wind.  
A founding member of Organization XIII. She is both a fierce warrior and a strategist. She seeks a heart, but despises love and the bonds that tie people together. In her human years, she was named Ladia and was one of Wonas the Wise's apprentices and helped guard the castle.

 **No. IV - Vexe** , the Chilly Academic. Domain over the Power of Ice. Brilliant.  
A founding member of Organization XIII. A brilliant scientist who carries out research on various Organization projects. She was in charge of the Replica Program at Castle Oblivion. In her previous life, she was named Eve and one of Wonas the Wise's apprentices and researched the mysteries of the heart.

 **No. V - Lexaes** , the Taciturn Stalwart. Commands the Earth with Quiet Strength.  
A founding member of Organization XIII. She is a woman of brawny physique and few words. She was sent to Castle Oblivion. In her previous life, she was named Selena and one of Wonas the Wise's apprentices and helped guard the castle.

 **No. VI - Zexina** , the Cloaked Schemer. Wields Shadows and Illusions.  
A founding member of Organization XIII. A ruthless tactician who would use any means for her ends. In her human years, she was named Ienza and used to be one of Wonas the Wise's apprentices and researched the mysteries of the heart.

 **No. VII - Saïxia** , the Luna Diviner. Adjutant. Driven by the Moon to Seek Hearts  
One of Organization XIII's members. In her human years, she was named Aisia and was Leela's close friend.

 **No. VIII - Axelle** , the Flurry of Dancing Flames. Assassin with Motives of His Own.  
She prioritizes her own motives over the goals of the Organization. In her human years, she was named Leela and was Aisia's close friend.

 **No. IX - Demy** , the Melodious Nocturne. Sitar Playing. Wields Water. Laid-back.  
A member of Organization XIII. Her easy-go-lucky personality is uncharacteristic of an Organization member. She can control water by playing her sitar, but is aware that she is unfit as a fighter.

 **No. X - Luxra** , the Gambler of Fate. Controls Time and Wagers to Win Every Game.  
A member of Organization XIII. A gambler at heart who enjoys treating everything as a wager. She never lets down her gentlemanly and reserved attitude.

 **No. XI - Marlyxia** , the Graceful Assassin. Ambitions Hidden by Flowers and Scythe.  
A member of Organization XIII. Despite having joined late, she is sent to Castle Oblivion and named its lord based on her profound abilities. She is intrigued by the Keyblade wielder and harbors dark desires.

 **No. XII - Larx** , the Savage Nymph. Armed with Lightning, Knives and a Temper.  
A member of Organization XIII. He is highly conceited and mocks all those around his with an abrasive attitude.

* * *

 **OTHERS**

 **Roxeane** \- One of Organization XIII's members, and also Sorette's Nobody. She was especially close to Axelle, another of their members. Roxeane ceased to exist after reuniting with Sorette.

 **Nami** \- Kai's Nobody. Organization XIII used his special powers to manipulate Sorette's memories, but in the end, Sorette saved him. He ceased to exist after reuniting with Kai.

 **Xionas** \- Organization XIII's mysterious fourteenth member. He was an experimental replica used to "catch" Roxeane's memories and create a Keyblade wielder for the Organization. In the end, he was erased from existence and returned to Sorette where he belonged.

 **Master Eraqua** \- One of the true Keyblade Masters, and also Terrina, Aquarius, and Vinnietus's teacher. She has a strong aversion to darkness, and believes it the duty of every Keyblade Master to rid the world of it. Though strict on the outside, she's not unkind, and loves her pupils like her own children.

 **Pluto** \- King Mickey's trusty dog. While the Queen is away, Pluto helps King Mickey and friends hold down the fort.

 **Hilly** \- A girl who lives in Twilight Town who has a bit of an attitude problem. Once she gets an idea, she has to LIVE it - and Pearl and Ole get dragged along for the ride.

 **Pearl** \- A girl who lives in Twilight Town. She hangs out with Hilly (their "leader") and Ole (the responsible one). As for Pearl herself, she's relatively laid back. When there's a problem, she takes her time and approaches the problem realistically.

 **Ole** \- A boy who lives in Twilight Town. He spends most of his time with Hilly and Pearl. Ole makes sure to look after the two of them. He likes to go shopping on Market Street and watch the sunset while talking with his friends.

 **Wonas the Wise/DiZa** \- The wise woman who once ruled over Radiant Garden. Her apprentices stole her research into the heart and brought chaos to the worlds. She even called herself "DiZa" and dressed her face in bandages in order to conceal it.

 **Hollow Bastion Restoration** **Committee**

 **Lea** \- A swordswoman who carries a gunblade. She took the name Lea to distance herself from her past self - the woman who stood helpless as Heartless invaded her home. For some time, she took refuge in a different town, but thanks to Sorette's help, Lea was able to reclaim her hometown. Now she works tirelessly towards its restoration.

 **Cindy** \- An engineer, tech wizard and first-rate pilot. She met Sorette as a castaway, while she was running a shop away from her hometown.

 **Cloudia** \- A "soldier" who effortlessly wields a hefty sword. She once fought against Sorette and her friends under contract with Hades. Cloudia hates letting other people see what she's thinking, so she can be an enigma to other people. She searches for Sephira, hoping to settle things once and for all with her inner darkness.

 **Aeris** \- A young man whose quiet eyes belie an unbreakable will. Like Lea, he met Sorette while living away from his hometown, and helped her now and then on her journey. Now he works with Lea and Yuffi to restore the town to its past splendor.

 **Tif** \- A young man in search of a certain someone. Unflinching, unrelenting, Tif has looked far and wide. His journey won't be over until he finds the person he seeks.

 **Yuffi** \- One member of the town's Restoration Committee, a spirited boy who actively does his part to keep tabs on the town. Yuffi met Sorette when he was living away from his hometown. Thanks to her help last time, the Heartless were ousted and he got to come home - so he's very grateful to her.

 **Merlin** \- A powerful wizard who's currently living in Hollow Bastion. He's letting the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee use his house as a meeting place.


	2. What came before

**WHAT CAME BEFORE**

Long ago, in the age of fairy tales, the World was filled with light - a gift, many believed, from an unseen power known as "Kingdom Hearts."

You see, Kingdom Hearts was protected by its counterpart, the χ-blade, so that none could ever lay hands on its mysteries.

But in time, the World was overrun by legions who wanted the light all for themselves, and the first shadows were cast upon the land.

These warriors crafted "Keyblades" in the image of the original χ-blade, and waged a great war over Kingdom Hearts. It was known as the Keyblade War.

But though the war extinguished all light from the World, the darkness could not reach the brightness inside every child's heart. With that light, the World was remade as we know it today, with countless smaller worlds shining like stars in the sky.

As for the real χ-blade, it did not survive the battle. The two elements that created it, one of darkness and one of light, shattered into twenty pieces - seven of light; thirteen of darkness.

And as for the source of all light, the one true Kingdom Hearts, it was swallowed by the darkness, never to be seen again.

As long as it remains there, even the brightest world will have its dark corners. After all, light begets darkness, and darkness is drawn to light.

For this reason, some decided to use the Keyblade, a weapon designed to conquer the light, to defend the light instead.

These were the first heroes of the Keyblade.

And here...the chronology story begins.


	3. Birth By Sleep

As a Keyblade Master, Xehanora had a gift like few others, but such great minds are often plagued by a single great question: What is the essence of the human heart that weakens us, or empowers us?

The answer, she believed, would be found in the Keyblade War. What if the challenges of the past, present, and future were, in fact, a map to the light and darkness that battles within us all?

Xehanora had to know, so she renounced her duties as master and chose the seeker's life. Since then, in many a guise, she has clashed with protectors of the light, Keyblade wielders to be precise...

A serene slice of paradise, Destiny Islands rests on its own little corner of the cosmos. The waves lap back and forth on the islands' gleaming white sand, the clear blue water rests like precious sapphires, all dyed a blazing orange by the sun's descending glow.

"This world is just too small," A young Xehanora said as she stood just a feet away from the water, and looked out at the horizon with her unrelenting eyes. She stood at the water's edge, staring at the sun's golden reflection on the water.

* * *

 **Xehanora's Report 1**

 _Much time has passed since I left the home of my youth behind, and in the myriad worlds I have visited, I have gained much knowledge. On these pages, I intend to record a portion of that knowledge, and put the course of my life to paper._

 _Upon reflection, my life underwent the most considerable sea-change when I arrived at that place. Yes, it began when I found a Master, and another I would later call my sister-when I found a new home._

 _Then there was the Keyblade. For what purpose was it begotten, and by whom? During my training as one of its wielders, the precepts offered a clear answer: the Keyblade existed so that we who watched over the light could protect the world from the shadows._

 _But was that the TRUE answer? Could there not be more to it than that? My heart sought knowledge, and so I sometimes visited other worlds-though such travel was forbidden unless duty required-and found what my heart sought._

 **Xehanora's Report 7**

 _I have uncovered the Keyblade's ultimate mystery. You see, besides the three_ _families of Keyblades, there is another "Key Blade." While it may sound the_ _same when spoken, it is notated uniquely: "χ-blade." And make no mistake, while_ _it resembles a normal Keyblade, it is something altogether different._ _Keyblades are said to be man-made counterparts to Kingdom Hearts. The χ-blade,_ _however, coexists with Kingdom Hearts._

 _It is only forged when two hearts of equal power intersect-one heart of pure_ _darkness, one heart of pure light. At the time of its forging, Kingdom Hearts_ _appears. It must be noted, though, that this Kingdom Hearts is special. Unlike_ _the Kingdoms brought about forcibly and artificially through the collection of_ _hearts, THIS Kingdom Hearts is a perfect and complete union of ALL the worlds'_ _hearts. Surely it was over this that the ancient Keyblade War was fought._

 _If so, the walls that divide the worlds today are of little consequence. With_ _the χ-blade, all their hearts could be instantly reunited-and the Keyblade_ _War, refought._

* * *

Many years later, in the Land of Departure, where wielders of the Keyblade trained, ancient in origin and terrible in power, a conflict between the two grown masters in the Throne Room of the castle had happened...

"Wait, Xehanora," Master Eraqua halted Xehanora. "There is a reason the precepts bar us from such knowledge. Why do you even seek the χ-blade? Would you even blanket all the worlds in darkness, reduce them to nothing?!"

"But the darkness did cover the world once, in legend," Xehanora replied, "We know so little about the Keyblade War, only that it was just the beginning. Amidst that crisis, a precious light was found. It is a curious tale, and one worth exploring. They say ruin brings about creation. So, what would yet another Keyblade War bring? When the darkness falls, will we be found worthy of the precious light the legend speaks of? I must have these answers. The χ-blade needs to be forged, and with it, the door to the Keyblade War will be unlocked!"

Master Eraqua was shocked, "You fool... You would risk an apocalypse out of sheer curiosity. I will not allow it, Xehanora. Not while I live!"

"But once again you have it all wrong, Eraqua," Master Xehanora said in chuckle, "Darkness is only just the beginning, not the end. At birth, every one of us emerged from darkness into a world of light, don't we?"

"Poetic excuses!" Eraqua exclaimed, but Xehanora just turned and walked away.

"If words won't dissuade you," Eraqua said as she summons her Keyblade and runs toward Master Xehanora, "only one thing will."

Xehanora turned as well, smiling, summoning her Keyblade with darkness as lightning swirls around her. She points her blade with a yell, and two bolts of dark energy shoot out and strike Master Eraqua in the face.

Eraqua faltered and collapsed on the floor as Xehanora walks closer to her and the darkness around her vanished.

"That power!" Eraqua said as darkness emanated from the scars on her face, "Has the darkness taken you, Xehanora?"

But Xehanora just answered, "It's none of your concern."

Xehanora leaves as Eraqua groaned in pain.

* * *

 **Xehanora's Report 8**

 _My sister pupil Eraqua thinks only in absolutes. She has persuaded herself that light is the only way, but forgets that light cannot exist without shadow. I believe a balance of light and darkness is what sustains our World, but too much of the darkness has been stamped out, disrupting that balance. Someone must tear down this tyranny of light and reorganize the World around the darkness which then creeps back in._

 _Eraqua and I did not see eye to eye. I left, and wandered the World. This was perhaps the first time I felt truly free since that day I departed my girlhood home. But free to do what? I had already shown the Mark and become a Keyblade Master-but having been passed over as a Successor, all that remained to me was the road of teacher._

 _Ordinarily, Keyblade Masters take pupils under their wings, malleable minds in which to impress the precepts of the Keyblade wielder and keep our profession alive for generations to come. Was my time drawing to an end, then, after all I had accomplished since casting away the place of my birth? Surely waiting for a quiet death would not do, not when there was still so much I needed to see for myself. Powers help me, I thought, my body is so old..._

* * *

Years before, Master Xehanora had tried to draw the darkness out of a young girl named Vinnietus (Vinnie for short), intending to pit the girl against one of Master Eraqua's students of light and create the χ-blade.

But though countless monsters had closed in on Vinnietus, she had refused to fight, let alone rely on darkness.

Vinnietus, frightened, looked up to Master Xehanora, who was on a cliff, and pleaded, "Please don't do this, Master. I'm not strong enough."

Master Xehanora refused, "No. It is because you are trying to hold it in. Let the dark impulses waken in the pit of your heart. Release them, here and now! Sharpen your fear into rage. If you do not let the storm within you run its course, it will wipe you from the face of the world, make no mistake!"

The monsters creep closer to Vinnietus as Xehanora continued, "Do it. Embrace the darkness. Produce for your Master the χ-blade!"

Later, Xehanora's patience had finally run out as her eyes cast down on Vinnietus, who faces down on the ground, "Really? You would rather die than use the power? Feckless neophyte. If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself."

So, Xehanora extracted the darkness from Vinnietus by force, thereby creating Vanita.

"An Empty creature from Vinnietus riven...," Xehanora said, "To you, the name Vanita shall be given."

Vanita soon spoke, "Yes, Master."

* * *

 **Xehanora's Report 9**

 _We Keyblade Masters have a special gift. We can extract a heart, be it our own or that of another. By continuing this cycle, it is possible to remain in the world of the living forever._

 _As a girl, I dreamed of seeing the farthest reaches of the World. If I only went far enough, there had to be a world out there in which no one had ever before set foot. And now I know of just such a world. If I become the first to open Kingdom Hearts' door, I can create the Next World in which light and darkness exist in perfect equilibrium._

 _So there I stood, with vast knowledge in one gnarled, dying hand, and newfound purpose in the other. The next step was clear: I needed a new vessel._

 _And that was when I met Vinnietus and made her my pupil. We were destined to meet, and I could sense the potential within her, but the girl was too benign for her own good. I came to the conclusion she was too frail to serve as a vessel, and decided to use her for a second purpose I had in mind._

 _I would remove the darkness from her heart and split her in two. Then I would have my heart of pure light, and my heart of pure darkness._

* * *

Master Xehanora had decided to abandon her pupil, Vinnietus, on the Destiny Islands.

"There, you see? An empty world, like a prison," Xehanora said to Vinnietus under the sheet as she sets her down onto a paopu tree that's bent sideways like a bench, "I imagine you'll be right at home."

The girl's heart was fractured-useless. But her heart was saved when a "new heart" found Vinnietus and helped her fill the void.

 _Hey, where am I?_

"Who's there?" Vinnietus asked in her blank eyes as light shines in the darkness and pushes it away. Vinnietus turns feet down and lands on a white platform. She stands up and surveys the platform.

 _I'm a brand new heart._

"But why?" Vinnietus asked.

 _The light brought me. I saw it shining in the distance...and_ _followed it here._

"Yeah. That was my light," Vinnietus said, "But my heart is fractured. And now...the little I have left is slipping away."

 _Then you should join your heart with mine._

The platform fills in with light and becomes whole.

 _Now our hearts have touched. Nothing else will slip away. And_ _one day...you'll be strong enough to win back the part that already did._

"Right. Thanks," Vinnietus said.

 _It's time to wake up now. All we need to do is..._

"Open the door," Vinnietus finished as their voices joined as one.

Back on the island, Xehanora in a black coat walked away from Vinnietus. The girl lifted her arm up out of the sheet, and Xehanora stopped and turned around, giving a sound of contentment. A Keyblade flashes into Vinnie's hand, glowing.

"A Keyblade!" Xehanora was surprised as the Keyblade shoots a pillar of light into the sky.

Xehanora smiled and Vinnietus slowly opened her eyes, the small points of light reflecting in them.

* * *

 **Xehanora's Report 10**

 _As was to be expected, Vinnietus lacked the constitution for such an ordeal. I was able to remove the darkness inside her and create Vanita, a heart of pure darkness, but Vinnietus drifted into the clutches of sleep._

 _Vinnietus's heart of pure light and Vanita's heart of pure darkness...If both could be made strong enough to one day clash, I know the X-blade would be forged. But Vanita took too much of Vinnietus's heart, and from that fracture, I could see the last of Vinnietus's light was slipping away. The girl deserved a place to spend her final moments peacefully. And what should come to mind but my own girlhood home._

 _My legs took me there unbidden, and as I stood there on the same beach where I had made my choice so many years ago, I thought: not a single thing has changed. Here, in this quiet world, time marches in place. Content that Vinnietus would find peace here, I started to walk away-but just then, the girl held up her Keyblade. The light within her had not died._

* * *

 **Four years ago in the Land of Departure,...**

Eraqua's two current apprentices, Terrina and Aquarius, were practicing in the Throne Room, when they hear the front door of the castle opened.

The two walked to the balcony and looked toward the door, where Master Xehanora stood with a dull-eyed Vinnietus at her side. They walked inside and were greeted by Master Eraqua.

"That girl...," Aquarius said, worrying about Vinnietus, then he turned to Terrina, "Is she okay?"

"I'll go see," Terrina said as she walks down the stairs and over to Vinnietus.

"Uh, hi," Terrina soon greeted Vinnietus, "I'm Terrina. What's your name?"

Vinnietus slowly answered, "Vinnietus."

"Whew, you can talk!" Terrina was relieved, then she turns around, "Aquarius, c'mere."

Aquarius smiles and runs downstairs to talk to Vinnietus, "Hi, I'm Aquarius."

Vinnietus looks to each of them in turn as she said their names, "Terrina... Aquarius..."

Terrina and Aquarius were excited by the prospect of gaining a companion, but when they begin questioning Vinnie about her past, she fell into a coma.

"Vinnietus cannot tell you anything," Eraqua explained, "...because she cannot remember anything."

Terrina and Aquarius sadly gasped.

* * *

 **Xehanora's Report 11**

 _Vinnietus and Vanita were not matched in power; I could not train them, or Vanita's darkness would gnaw away what little Vinnietus had left._

 _Of course, since I needed a place where the girl's light might flourish, the answer was obvious: Eraqua, and her absolutes._

 _Considering how we had parted ways, I expected friction-but if anything, Eraqua seemed delighted to see me again. She readily agreed to take care of Vinnietus. Now I need only wait for the girl's heart to get stronger._

 _I had not visited this second home of mine for some time, and discovered Eraqua had already two pupils of her own. Within one of them, Terrina, I sensed something. The girl, though well-intentioned, seeks power single-mindedly. And that kind of hunger is a seedbed for darkness._

 _I had found my vessel._

Days later, Vinnietus woke up in perfect health, though a guilt-ridden Terrina still feels that it was her fault Vinnie fell comatose in the first place.

To make it up to her, Terrina befriends Vinnietus and later introduced her to Aquarius.

That day was the inception of a powerful friendship, one that would only grow over coming years, and surely hold strong through any obstacle that met the three.

 **Xehanora's Report 12**

 _The time has come. I have received word from Eraqua that her pupils are to become true Keyblade Masters. Terrina and Aquarius...They will be easy now to lure into the outside world. But Vinnietus! I will get nowhere without her._

 _Vanita can feel some of what Vinnietus feels, and she says Terrina is the key. Vinnietus has loved Terrina like a real sister ever since she let her keep her old wooden Keyblade. It seems we have found a loose thread at which we can tug to unravel Vinnietus's heart._

 _The first step is to get Terrina alone; then we need to plant the seeds of doubt in Vinnietus. Let her carry her faint light as she chases her sister into the darkness._

 _Let the darkness make her light stronger, then let the light deepen the darkness. And where the two finally meet is where the stuff of legends will become real._

* * *

 **Xehanora's Letter**

 _Please accept my deepest gratitude for the invitation to witness your pupils' accession to the office of true Keyblade Master. It was a heavy mantle our Master placed upon your shoulders naming you Successor, but you have nonetheless persevered and raised two Masters yourself. I know it cannot be easy._

 _I did you terrible harm in the past over a petty difference in opinion, and just a few years ago selfishly thrust my own burdens upon you. I think of you like a younger sister, and yet, fool that I am, I have never availed myself of countless opportunities to apologize or thank you for opening your home to the girl. Yet not once have you blamed me; on the contrary, here you are inviting me to such an important ceremony. I intend to be there to offer you all my blessings._

 _Our Master chose her heir wisely. Ours is a bizarrely ironic task-to watch over the light from the shadows-but in the face of that, the warmth in your heart and unfailing dedication to the light impress me to no end._

 _I have taken to wandering the World, and seen much darkness hiding in the light. Lately, I fear it has taken a turn for the worse. Perhaps Yen Sid has already told you about the Unversed? These fledgling emotions derive from negativity, and I can now sense their presence in nearly every world._

 _And on the topic of darkness: we must speak of another matter that concerns me, one related to the upcoming ceremony. When I visited several years ago, your pupil Terrina drew my attention. Her power is immense, to be sure, but within her heart I could see darkness just waiting to be awakened. I know this is none of my business, but I have reservations about welcoming Terrina as a true Keyblade Master without taking certain precautions. The traditional examination, perhaps, to see if she has the Mark of Mastery? The choice is yours, and I will humbly respect your decision._

 _Take care. I eagerly await our long overdue reunion._

* * *

One night, Vinnietus, now known as Vinnie as they called her, was up on the summit watching a meteor shower when Aquarius arrived.

"You know, you should've at least brought a blanket," Aquarius said to Vinnie.

"But... Did I dream that place up?" Vinnie asked, "It really felt like I'd been there before...looking up at the stars..."

Aquarius pets Vinnie's head as he replied, "Except you've always lived here with us."

"Yeah... I know," Vinnie said as they walk to the edge of the hill and sit. "Aquarius...Did you ever wonder what stars are? Where light comes from?"

"Hmm...," Aquarius pondered, "Well, let's just say that..."

"That every star up there is another world," Terrina spoke up as Vinnie and Aquarius turn around and see that she joined them, "It's hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own. The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns."

"What? I don't get it," Vinnie was confused.

"In other words," Terrina replied to Vinnie, "they're just like you."

"What does THAT supposed to mean?" Aquarius asked.

"Vinnie will find out someday, I'm sure," Terrina answered.

"But you can tell that she wants to know now," Aquarius replied.

"But she's too young to know now," Terrina protested.

Vinnie smiled as Aquarius replied back, "Quit treating her like a kid!"

Vinnie laughed when Terrina asked her, "Hey, what are you laughing?"

"I can't help it," Vinnie replied, "You two would make the weirdest couple, while you and I would make the weirdest sisters!"

"Huh?" Terrina and Aquarius looked at each other and blushed. Then, they started laughing along with Vinnie.

 **A while later,...**

"Hey, Terrina," Aquarius said to her, "You and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow."

Aquarius then reaches into his pocket. Terrina and Vinnie stand up as well when Aquarius pulls out three star-shaped charms hang from thread, "TA-DA! I made us good luck charms."

Aquarius tossed the red one to Terrina, who catches it with one hand and said to Aquarius with love, "Awwww, you made one just for me!"

Vinnie catched a green one, "Wait, I get one too?"

"Of course," Aquarius said as he holds out a blue one, "One for each of us."

They hold them out together and compare as Aquarius continued, "Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit...and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other. Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best with what I had."

"Sometimes you are such a boy," Terrina said with a romantic sigh.

"Hey, what do you mean 'sometimes'?" Aquarius asked, looking a little embarrassed.

"So, it's not a real good luck charm?" Vinnie asked, scratching her head.

"Well, that's yet to be seen," Aquarius replied, "But I did work a little magic on it."

"Really? What's that?"

"An unbreakable connection," Aquarius said. "Together...always."

Vinnie joined up with Terrina and Aquarius as they walked back to the castle.

 _That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars_ , Terrina, Aquarius, and Vinnie thought in unison.

* * *

As the three young Keyblade Wielders train and grow closer, unexpected events began to unfold.

Another wielder, Queen Minnie Mouse, who filled in Mickey's duty as Keyblade wielder while he stayed at their world, was undergoing her own training under former Master Yen Sid.

"Minnie...," Yen Sid said to her, "I cannot shake the feeling something terrible is about to transpire."

That got Minnie's attention.

* * *

 **Xehanort's Report 6**

 _There are three families of Keyblades: the Keyblades of light we wield, Keyblades of darkness, and Keyblades of heart._

 _The first and second families differ only in origin; Keyblades of darkness are found in the realm of darkness, and are counterparts to the Keyblades we use in the realm of light._

 _The third type of key, the Keyblade of heart, came into existence when the World was reorganized after the Keyblade War. Without this key, Kingdom Hearts is forever beyond a person's reach. Only by gathering seven hearts of pure light-hearts completely devoid of darkness-may one forge a Keyblade of heart and open the door to Kingdom Hearts._

 _And, as stated before, opening this door arguably gives that person control over all worlds and all people._

* * *

The next day at the Land of Departure, it was the day of the Mark of Mastery exam for Terrina and Aquarius – a trial to determine their worthiness to become Keyblade Masters.

Master Eraqua stepped forward as she began to spoke, "Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one but two of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates, but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy, not a test of will, but a test of heart. Both of you may prevail, or neither. But I am sure our guest, Master Xehanora, did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark. I trust you are ready."

"Yes," Terrina and Aquarius answered in unison.

"Then let the examination begin," Eraqua said as she holds her Keyblade vertically and holds his hand to the hilt, creating a small aura. Five white balls of light appear in midair and Terrina and Aquarius ready their Keyblades.

But Master Xehanora adjusts her hand and the balls of light were mixed with darkness. Surprising Terrina, Aquarius, and Master Eraqua, she smiled.

Terrina and Aquarius begin eliminating the orbs when one of them was flying over to Vinnie.

"Vinnie!" Terrina and Aquarius shouted, but Vinnie takes out her Keyblade and strikes it down.

"Don't you worry about me," Vinnie tells the two, "You two just focus on the exam!"

"But what about you? You're in danger here!" Aquarius said. "Save yourself!"

"No way! I've been looking forward to this, seeing you two become Masters. I'm not gonna miss it now!"

"Vinnie can take care of herself," Terrina tells Aquarius, "She's been out there training just as hard as us."

"Yeah!" Vinnie nodded.

"Stay sharp, then," Aquarius said to Vinnie, and together, the three eliminate the orbs.

"That was unexpected...," Master Eraqua said, "but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold. Which brings us to your next trial."

Terrina and Aquarius face each other as Master Eraqua said, "Now, Terrina and Aquarius, you two will be facing each other in combat. Remember, there are no winners-only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed. Begin!"

But during the trail, when she and Aquarius fought and he gained the upper hand, part of the darkness within Terrina emerged unbidden.

After the match, they stand before the Masters once again as Master Eraqua began to said, "We have deliberated and reached a decision. Terrina, Aquarius, you both performed commendably. However, only Aquarius has shown the Mark of Mastery."

Terrina looked dejected as Master Eraqua continued, "Terrina, you failed to keep the darkness within you sufficiently in check. But, there is always next time. That is all."

While Master Xehanora walked out into the hallway, Eraqua turned to Aquarius, "Aquarius, as our newest Keyblade Master, you are entitled to certain knowledge. Please wait here for further instruction."

While Eraqua tried to follow Xehanora, Aquarius turned to Terrina, "Hey..."

Vinnie went up to the two of them, "Well, that didn't go well. Sorry..."

"The darkness... Where did it come from?" Terrina looked down, sadly.

Meanwhile, without Eraqua noticing her, Master Xehanora secretly and quietly tip-toed downstairs to Vanita and asked, "So,... What do you make of Vinnietus?"

"She ain't gonna cut it," Vanita answered in her red and black clothing as she leaned against the wall holding a black curved helmet against her right hip, "Somebody's gotta break her in."

"Not here, you won't," Xehanora warned her, "I have to keep up appearances."

"I know, I know," Vanita replied as she put her helmet on to her face, and the two of them walked downstairs, "Let's just say she just needs a little incentive to leave home."

"Sorry...but I need some time alone," Terrina said, walking away as Vinnie and Aquarius watch her leave.

* * *

 **A few moments later,...**

"Aquarius," Master Eraqua went up to him. "Now that you are a Keyblade Master, there is one secret in particular you must know. If anything were to happen to me, and that you find the legion of darkness at our doorstep...I ask that you take my Keyblade and use it to lock this land away."

"What? Why?" Aquarius asked in shocked.

Master Eraqua began to explained, "Generations of Keyblade Masters have been charged with keeping this land safe. Light and darkness exist in balance here, and there are those who would abuse such neutral ground. This is why our predecessors devised a certain...trick. Just use the key, and this land will be transformed. From that day forward, all who visit this land will be lost to oblivion, none ever able to solve the mystery. None, Aquarius, except you."

* * *

In her bedroom, Vinnie was already fraught with concern for her friend when suddenly, Vanita appeared out of nowhere.

"Better hurry, Vinnietus...," Vanita said to her, leaning against a bookshelf, "Or you'll never see Terrina again."

"What? Get real," Vinnie replied, "I can see Terrina anytime I want."

"You mean like right now? She's leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up...she'll be a different person."

* * *

Outside, as Terrina agonized over the weakness of her that had been exposed, Master Xehanora comforted her.

"The darkness is nothing to fear," Master Xehanora said to her, "And yet...how frustrating that Eraqua refutes its power. Why, you could train with her forever and still...you'd never be a Master in her eyes."

"But why?" Terrina asked, "Help me understand, Master Xehanora. What is it that I've failed to learn?"

"You are fine as you are," Master Xehanora replied, then explained, "Darkness cannot be destroyed. It can only be channeled."

"Yes. Thank you, Master," Terrina thanked her. All she needed to do was supplant it with a greater power.

Just then, at the same time, a bell rings and Terrina looks around before running up the stairs to the castle. Master Xehanora, however, smiled as she entered a corridor of darkness...

Terrina soon caught up with Aquarius, who stood with Master Eraqua in the Throne Room.

"What happened?" Terrina asked Aquarius

"I don't know," Aquarius replied, "Why isn't Vinnie here?"

* * *

Because Vinnie was busy dealing with Vanita as she said to her, "Look-whoever you are-you don't know the first thing about Terrina. Me and her will always be a team. You got a problem with that?"

"Oh, please. You call that friendship?" Vanita replied, "You'll never know the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself. I mean, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here, looking at nothing but what's in your tiny world?"

Soon after, Eraqua received word from the great sorcerer, Yen Sid, as she said, "Very well then, I will send my pupils to investigate. I understand. Farewell."

Master Eraqua rejoins Terrina and Aquarius as she told them, "That was my dear old friend Yen Sid. As you know, he is Master no more, but he still keeps a close eye on the tides of light and darkness. His counsel serves as signposts on the road we wielders of the Keyblade must walk. All the more reason, then, for concern-for he tells me the princes of heart are in trouble. Not only from the forces of darkness, as you may assume, but also from a new threat-one that feeds on negativity. Fledgling emotions that have taken monster form-Yen Sid calls them the 'Unversed.' As wielders of the Keyblade, you are tasked with striking down any who would upset the balance of light and darkness. The Unversed are no exception. I tried to pass this news on to Master Xehanora, but my repeated attempts to reach her have failed. I doubt there is any connection, and yet... This all troubles me."

"Master Xehanora is gone?" Terrina asked.

Eraqua nodded as she continued, "So here we are. I need you two to get this situation under control. Eliminate the Unversed, and find Master Xehanora. I have unlocked the Lanes Between. You may use these forbidden pathways to travel between this world and countless others. The darkness looms closer than usual within these spaces, but your armor will protect you. Lastly, remember that the order must be kept. You cannot tell anyone there are other worlds. Now go, and fulfill your duty."

"Yes, Master," Terrina and Aquarius answered in unison.

Terrina turned to leave when Eraqua halted her, "Wait! Consider this an opportunity. A second chance for you to change my mind."

"What?" Terrina was surprised.

"You must know, I care for you like my own daughter," Master Eraqua replied, "If I could have my way, I would name you Master in a second. But, how can I, when you are so obsessed with power? Terrina, you mustn't be afraid of losing. Fear leads to obsession with power, and obsession beckons the darkness. You must never forget."

"Thank you, Master," Terrina said, bowing, "I swear...I will not fail you again."

Aquarius watches her leave as he said, "Master, I'd best be on my way."

Aquarius started to leave, seeing Vinnie run before him, when Eraqua told him, "Wait, Aquarius. Before you depart, I have one other... Well, call it a request, of the utmost priority.

"Yes?" Aquarius answered.

"When I told Terrina this could be a second chance to show the Mark of Mastery...I _really_ meant it. However, that flicker of darkness she displayed during the examination, I can sense it runs very deep. If those powers were to prove too much for her to handle, I want you to bring her back to me at once. It's for her own good. I could not bear to lose any of you to the darkness."

"All right," Aquarius answered, "I would never let that happen. I promise you I will bring Terrina back. Only this time, you'll see she has what it takes to be Master."

Aquarius gazed toward the stained-glass window, light pouring in from outside as he continued, "She's not as weak as you think."

And so, Terrina left to solve both mysteries, and Vinnietus ran away to be with her friend.

And as for Aquarius, Eraqua tasked him with keeping Terrina under surveillance and bringing Vinnietus home as soon as possible.

Thus their journeys began.

* * *

 **Xehanora's Report 2**

 _Our Master instructed us to don armor while traveling between worlds, so that we might shield ourselves from the darkness. But there, in the Lanes Between, I could feel the force of it-the power-and from then on, I forwent my armor's "protection." I had been told the darkness would devour me, but what terrors could it possibly hold, so long as I found the strength to control it?_

 _The World is vast-and the worlds within the greater World, uncountable. Like little islands, they dot a great Ocean Between which keeps them ignorant of each other, uncorrupted._

 _Each world had its own order. Unlike us, they could not know of the World in its entirety, and we were never to enlighten them._

 **Xehanora's Report 5**

 _At present, the lanes and corridors that run between the worlds may only be_ _traversed by us Keyblade wielders, and those who have given themselves over to_ _darkness._

 _As the former, our duty is to cross the chasms between the worlds and guard_ _against the latter, whose darkness corrupts and contaminates, so that no world_ _need ever be lost again._

 _Few Keyblade wielders remain now; I have heard of but a handful of others_ _outside my circle. But the world is vast, and more of our kind may be out_ _there._

 _Now, in addition to the realm of light in which we reside, there is also a_ _realm of darkness, and the realm between which connects the two. The realm of_ _darkness is most forbidden; I am told none who set foot there have ever_ _returned._

* * *

During Terrina's travels, Master Xehanora whittled away at the young woman's ethics as Terrina had reached the Badlands and flies over the desolate, rocky terrain, seeing Master Xehanora standing near the edge of a canyon.

"Master Xehanora...," Terrina called as she landed nearby and releases the glider and armor, "I have been to other worlds. I know all about the things you've done. I just don't understand why."

"Someone had to safeguard the light...from the demon I unleashed," Xehanora said, looking downward, "You must know about the girl by now, the one in the mask. Her name is Vanita. A creature of pure darkness. One of my making."

"Vanita...," Terrina asked, "Are you telling me she came from you?"

"She came from Vinnietus," Xehanora answered, "Vanita is the darkness that was inside your friend."

Terrina gasped, but Master Xehanora continued quickly, "It was an accident. While training with me, Vinnietus succumbed to darkness, and there was but one way to save her-strip that part of her away. And thus, Vanita was made. In the process, I damaged the girl's heart in the most horrific way. So I did what I felt was right, and left her with Eraqua. I knew the girl could not stay with me, the woman who did her such harm."

"Master Xehanora...," Terrina reassured her, "Vinnietus has gotten a lot better since then. You shouldn't blame yourself for trying to save her."

"Well...," Xehanora said, softly. "Thank you, lad. You know how to put an old woman's heart at ease."

Master Xehanora also went on to explain she had tried to contain Vanita, but the monster had escaped, and now she was unleashing her darkness, the Unversed, upon world after world.

Xehanora implored Terrina to set things right, sending her to the city of light, Radiant Garden, to which Vanita would undoubtedly be drawn next.

* * *

Elsewhere in the Badlands, after Terrina left, Vinnie once again found herself face-to-face with Vanita.

"All right!" Vinnie began to ask, "What did you mean about Terrina being a different person?"

"Exactly what I said before, Vinnietus. The Terrina you know will be gone forever," the girl explained. And much to Vinnie's surprise, she summoned a Keyblade.

Not only was the masked girl a Keyblade wielder, but a vastly superior one. With disdain, she prepared to finish Vinnie off, but Minnie arrived just in the nick of time.

Minnie made sure that Vinnietus is okay and turned to face Vanita with an angry look on her face.

"Where did you get that?!" Minnie ordered Vanita as she thrusts out her Keyblade, "Keyblades are not something you use just to bully somebody around! Here, I'll show ya!"

Vinnietus then spoke up as she was getting up, "We both will!"

Minnie and Vinnie nod and they fight Vanita, knocking her to the ground. The masked girl leaped to her feet and they ready for another attack.

"Hmph, you win," Vanita said as she opens a dark portal and walked backward. As it vanished, she added, "Consider yourself on probation."

"Probation for what?" Vinnietus asked, then she turned to Minnie, "Thanks for before, I owe ya. The name's Vinnietus. Yours?"

"I'm Minnie," Minnie introduced herself, "I've been trainin' under Mickey's teacher, Yen Sid. He found out the worlds are in trouble, and I sorta took off without tellin' him."

Vinnietus rubs her head sheepishly, "Well, that makes both of us. I ran off, too."

But when Minnie tried to show Vinnie the Star Shard she had been using to travel from world to world, it erupted in an unexpected blaze of light that engulfed the both of them and whisked them off to destinations unknown.

* * *

And so, Terrina, Aquarius, and Vinnietus separately find themselves in Radiant Garden, the city of light.

In a peculiar turn of events, Vinnie finds herself in Radiant Garden, transported by Minnie's Star Shard. Completely lost, she spots Minnie heading towards the castle gates, and sets off behind her.

Terrina arrived there in the hopes of locating Vanita. She manages to catch a fleeting glimpse of Master Xehanora and begins pursuit.

Vinnie followed Minnie as far as the castle doors, but the guards, Selena and Ladia, prevented her from pursuing her new friend any further. Instead, she wound up chasing an enormous Unversed through the city.

"Radiant Garden shall not fall under the likes of you," Ladia said to the Unversed.

Vinnietus rushes in front of them, "Leave this to me!"

"Stop! You're just a child!" Ladia and Selena shouted in unison.

They nodded to each other and start to follow Vinnie, when a voice appeared, "Now who do you think will defend the castle if you two go skipping off?"

"But, that girl...," Selena tried to speak, but a blond woman wearing a white lab coat, whose name was Eve, halted her.

"Never you worry about her," Eve said as she smirked, "She's a special case. By the way, her Ladyship was asking for you."

The guards walked back into the castle as Eve pondered, "A heart devoid of darkness? Stripped clean of it, at that... Very questionable."

Meanwhile, Aquarius arrived in Radiant Garden after chasing Terrina through the Lanes Between. But it seemed that Terrina had already vanished from the view.

He learned from Scrooge that he had seen someone heading towards the castle, and believing it to be Terrina leave for it immediately. Instead of finding his friend, he is greeted by an unwelcome sight; a little boy named Kai being attacked by Unversed.

Joined by Minnie, they manage to protect him and defeat the creatures.

Aquarius suggested that the Unversed were after the boy for his pure light, and forges a pact with Minnie to keep evil at bay, though she was quickly whisked away by the Star Shard afterwards. He leaves a parting gift for Kai, enchanting his necklace with magic to keep him safe.

Kai's grandpa had come to get him, and as they went home together, the old man told him a story about a war that was fought long ago over the light: The Keyblade War.

* * *

Soon, the three friends were reunited in Radiant Garden, but too much had changed.

Their happy reunion was spoiled as Aquarius began, "Listen, Vinnie... We need to get you home."

"It's okay," Vinnie replied, "Trust me, that girl in the mask is history. She'll never bad-mouth Terrina again."

Terrina gasped as she asked Vinnie strongly, "You saw the girl in the mask?"

Vinnie surprisingly answered, "Y-yes?"

"Vanita...," Terrina muttered, then turned to Vinnie, "Vinnie. You let Aquarius take you home."

"No way. I wanna go with you guys."

"You can't. We have a dangerous task ahead of us. I don't want you to get hurt."

"And what exactly is this dangerous task?" Aquarius asked as he angrily looked at the two girls, "It didn't sound like anything what the Master told you to do."

"It might be a different route," Terrina replied to Aquarius, "but I'm fighting the darkness."

"I wouldn't be saying that," Aquarius said, "I've been to the same worlds as you and I saw what you've did. How can I lay eyes on one of my two favorite gals that I care about who shouldn't put herself so close to darkness?"

"Listen to yourself, Aquarius. Terrina would never-"

Terrina gasped, narrowing her eyes, "You were spying on me? Is that what she said to do? The Master's orders?"

"She was only...," Aquarius tried to explain, but he looked away.

"Too much," Vinnie said.

Terrina, with tears in her eyes, turned away as she said, "I get it."

"Terrina!" Vinnietus tried to follow her, but...

"Just stay put!" Terrina yelled as tears rolled in her eyes and Vinnie stopped, "I'm on my own now! Don't even bother!"

"Terrina, please! Listen!" Aquarius tried to explain as Terrina ran off in tears, crying, "The Master has no reason to distrust you, really! She was just worried."

"You're bad at this, aren't you?" Vinnietus asked Aquarius, with a glare look in her eyes.

"So, now you know the truth," Aquarius said, "But the Master loves Terrina, and you know that."

"Were you also 'ordered' to take me home?" Vinnie asked by quoting with her fingers, but Aquarius said nothing, "You know what... Ever since you're now a Keyblade Master, you've let it go to your head."

Vinnie scoffed as she leaves Aquarius, who stood alone, "Terrina... Vinnie... I'm sorry."

* * *

Terrina continued to walk back to the Aqueduct, wiping away the tears, as she said, "Master Xehanora is the only one I can still count on."

Just then, a voice appeared, "You must be Terrina."

Terrina stopped and sees a tall woman in guard's clothes wearing a red scarf that's tattered at the edges, her brown eyes glinting, approaching her. Her name was Gigy.

"It's that old coot. She won't stop asking for you," Gigy said to Terrina about Xehanora, "I came all the way out here to get you just so she'd clam up."

"I don't follow," Terrina said.

"Ha! Do I have to spell it out for you?" Gigy asked, "Xehanora, whatever she's called. You know, my prisoner."

"You're apparently not a very good liar," Terrina said, "Master Xehanora would never let herself be caught by a thug like you."

"As if! I've got the old coot at my mercy, see for yourself. I'm holding her underneath the Outer Gardens," Gigy said, "You better show up before I lose my patience. Ciao."

Gigy turned and leaved as Terrina thought, _There's no way it's true-but no harm in looking._

When she arrived in the Outer Gardens, Terrina descends to the Purification Facility and looks out over the fountains.

She suddenly turned to see Master Xehanora tied up in chains to a large pipe as she shouted, "Master Xehanora!"

"The old coot certainly knows how to take punishment," Gigy said as she walked in from the entranceway, "Just like I know how to deal it out."

"You monster! What are you after?" Terrina asked as she summons her Keyblade while Gigy walks onto the large balcony.

"That thing right there. It's called a Keyblade, isn't it?" Gigy asked, pointing at the Keyblade with her arrowgun in her left hand, "Yep, it seems like these days everybody's got one of those...even grandma up there. When I nabbed her, she told me all about it-what a weapon like that can do. How could I not want one?"

"Well, you'll find they're picky about their owners," Terrina replied.

"Ha, if I heard the old lady right, you're what they call Keyblade Master material," Gigy said as she brandishes her arrowgun.

Then, Gigy tosses her gun and catches it, aiming it at Terrina as she continued, "So if I defeat you, that makes me the real keyslinger, if you catch my drift. Not the most polite way to go about it...But what can you do?

Terrina runs toward Gigy, but she halted her, "Ah-ah, one more step and the coot goes boom. You think I'm gonna fight fair? As if! That key's too powerful for us to go womano a womano."

* * *

While searching for her friend, Vinnie rescued a little girl, an orphan named Ienza, from the Unversed. The girl's guardian, Eve, thanked Vinnie for her heroism.

"I see we owe you our thanks," Eve said to Vinnie, "We have done our best to raise the girl...since her poor parents are not here to do it."

Ienza stared at Vinnie with her blue eyes, remaining in silent thought, as Vinnie said to her, "Oh. You're on your own."

Then, Vinnie turned to Eve, "...Ma'am, I'm looking for a friend of mine. She's a tall guy dressed kinda like me-have you seen her?"

Eve pondered, "Hmm... Perhaps I did see her in the Outer Gardens. Just follow this road."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you, for keeping Ienza out of harm's way. And... Well, let's just say I have a funny feeling we are destined to cross paths again."

Eve smirked, much to the confusion of Vinnie, and walked away. Ienza stared at her and follows. Vinnie rushes to the Outer Gardens.

* * *

Back at the Outer Gardens, Gigy shooted too many lasers at Terrina, who blocks with her Keyblade. More stream out and she falls over.

Gigy laughed, "For a Keyblade Master, you're not very-what's the word-good?"

Terrina gets up slowly when she heard Master Xehanora's voice, "What are you doing, Terrina? Fight!"

"But Master, you'll-," Terrina cried.

"Never mind me!" Xehanora shouted, "You must fight! You can't let this ruffian win. Think of your Master, Eraqua, the shame she and your fellow pupils would be forced to bear! Use the Keyblade!"

Terrina stands up and feels a rush of anger as Gigy scoffed, "So much for the bluff."

Though Terrina managed to beat Gigy and freed the Master, there was a price: She had to call upon the powers of darkness to win.

"This power...," Terrina said in realization.

"Well done, Terrina," Xehanora congratulated her as she walked towards her, "You have taken yet another step forward."

Terrina still hardly believe what just happened as she said, "But I was consumed by anger...hatred. That was the power of darkness."

"Darkness that you channeled," Xehanora cried, proudly.

Terrina felt ashamed and afraid that she would now be cast out of her home, but Master Xehanora offered her another choice: become her pupil.

"Master Eraqua, you see, is so afraid of darkness, that she too, has succumbed-not to darkness, but to light," Xehanora explained, "It shines so bright, she forgets that light begets darkness. And Aquarius and Vinnietus, their lights shine too bright. It's only natural that they cast shadows on your heart. Eraqua... She is such a fool! Light and darkness, they are a balance-one that must always be maintained. Terrina...you were the one who shows the true Mark of Mastery, but she refuses to see it."

Terrina remained silent as Master Xehanora continued, "And I think I know why. It is because she fears you. Join me. You and I can do the worlds much greater good, by wielding light and darkness in equal shares."

"Master Xehanora...," Terrina felt redeemed as Xehanora nodded.

"See more worlds," Xehanora told Terrina, "Seek out the darkness that upsets the balance. Find Vanita. And bring an end to her... Master Terrina."

Just before leaving, Terrina ran into Vinnie. She struggled for the right farewell, uncertain when or if the two of them would meet again.

* * *

Elsewhere, Aquarius continued his search, but was confronted by Vanita.

"A mask! You're the girl that Vinnietus mentioned."

"Ah yes, Vinnietus," Vanita said, "Tell me, has she learned to put up a decent fight yet?"

"Now why on Earth would she do that for you?"

"I'll be asking questions," Vanita replied, "And why shouldn't I? After all, between the two of us...I'm the only one who will walk away from here alive."

"Guess again!" Aquarius said as he summons his Keyblade and he glared at her.

A fight ensued, and he had only barely managed to drive the masked girl off when Vinnie came running up.

"Were you able to find Terrina?" Aquarius asked Vinnie

"Yeah, but... She's gone," Vinnietus answered.

"Right. Then, I can't stay here."

Realizing now that they faced greater dangers than ever, Aquarius insisted Vinnietus go home to the Land of Departure for her own safety.

Then, he vanished into the Lanes Between. Now Aquarius was left to deal with a mixture of guilt, concern, and love.

With both her friends gone, Vinnie was alone again, pitifully reminiscing of happier times. Vinnie took out a battered wooden sword Terrina had given her back in the better days.

Terrina had even performed a mock ceremony, pretending to pass the power of the wooden "Keyblade" on to Vinnie. It was a happy memory.

She remembered the talk the three of them had that night.

"Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about," Terrina said.

"Well, you're not the only one," replied Aquarius as they were all of one mind, working toward a single goal.

Vinnie was still reliving these memories when a girl named Leela showed up and, out of nowhere, demanded the two of them fight. Baffled, Vinnie agreed, but Leela only ended up wearing herself out before their "battle" had begun.

As Leela and her friend, Aisia, started taking digs at each other, Vinnie watched in envy, missing the days when friendship was so simple to define.

* * *

Back in the Purification Facility, Master Xehanora looked over the railing at the fountains when a voice boomed, "Hey, you old coot!"

It was Gigy, who shooted a laser at the back of Xehanora's head, but it did nothing. Then, she walked closer and shoot more, but they simply bounce off. Even her face is heavily bandaged.

"You said I wouldn't get hurt! I didn't sign up to be collateral damage!" Gigy yelled at Xehanora as she pointed an arrowgun directly at Xehanora's head, "No way, as if!"

Xehanora summoned her Keyblade and points it under Gigy's neck, choking her.

Gigy backed away as she said, "Okay! Okay, fine. Fine! Just...just put that down! You still need me! You still need me to do something, right? And all I'm asking is that you hold up your end of the bargain."

Xehanora dispels her Keyblade and Gigy bends over in relief.

"Heh, I mean, what's a little scratch on my face, huh? All things considered," Gigy said, "That would've ruined my week for sure."

"Unlikely. A powerful light still lives inside of Terrina," Xehanora replied, "You see, people like her...they don't have the power to steal hearts."

"So, wait a minute, you mean...she's not the one who...?"

Master Xehanora give out a small laugh.

* * *

Guided by fate, perhaps, Terrina arrived at the Destiny Islands and met Rika. She decided to bequeath the power of the Keyblade to this little girl, who reminded her so much of herself.

"So long as you have the makings," Terrina tells Rika, "Then through this simple act of taking...its wielder you shall one day be."

Terrina's uncertainty had left her. It was not too late to go back to her friends, to keep them safe. She could still be the person she had set out to be.

Some time after, Aquarius visited these same islands and discovered what Terrina had been doing. He, too, found a kindred spirit in Rika's friend, Sorette.

Aquarius looked at Rika as he thought, _This girl looks so sincere, just like Terrina._ He then looked at Sorette, _And this one, she's like Vinnie._

Aquarius laughed and the two look at each other as he said to the two girls, "One of you might be special enough. Mind telling me your names?"

"I'm Sorette!" Sorette said happily, raising her hand.

"Rika," Rika nodded.

Aquarius began to think, _Someone has already passed this girl the power. Was that Terrina?_

"Hey, uh, Sorette, do you like Rika?" Aquarius asked.

Sorette grinned widely, "Of course I like her, she's my best friend!"

"Great," Aquarius replied, "You see, if something happens, and Rika's about to get lost-or let's just say, she starts wandering down a dark path alone-you make sure to stay with her and keep her safe. That's your job, Sorette, and I'm counting on you to do so."

Sorette and Rika laughed as Aquarius pets both Sorette's and Rika's heads.

As the two little girls leave Aquarius and walked along the beach to the docks, he returns to the sandbar and sits on the paopu tree.

"One Keyblade is enough for any friendship," Aquarius would never wish the things he and Terrina had been through onto these children.

* * *

Vinnie had made a discovery of her own. While rescuing Minnie, she was confronted by Master Xehanora, triggering a sudden, traumatic recall of her lost memories.

"Ah yes, so you finally starting to realize...," Xehanora said, smiling and thrusting out her hand, moving her fingers in a manner of power, "What you lost-oh, but not for good. You had to lose in order to find. Now it can all be yours again, if you only reach out and take it."

Xehanora even then clenches her fist as she continued, "Reclaim the part that left you. Clash with her! Pure light against pure darkness, to forge the ultimate key. The all-powerful χ-blade!"

Vinnie screamed in pain and collapses, "Key...blade?"

"Not the Keyblades you and I carry," Xehanora reminded Vinnie as her hand had appeared a floating golden "X", spinning slowly in the air, "'χ'... A most ancient letter. Some say 'kye', but the meaning is the same. Death... A letter that spells endings."

Then, Xehanora even lifts her arms, creating a dark portal in the sky, churning with power and lightning. The wind picks up, blowing dust into the air

"And you said I have the power to make it?" Vinnie asked.

"Correct," Xehanora answered as she nodded, "Eraqua knows it, too. She knows exactly what you are."

"The Master?"

"Haven't you ever wondered? Why she never granted you permission to leave her side, to grow stronger?" Xehanora began to ask, then answered, "Eraqua was frightened of you. I mean, if you were going to learn the truth, and realize what you are... She never trusted you. Why else would she keep you within her sight at all times?"

Vinnie's eyes turned wide in both realization and shock as she managed to get up, "Yeah. She never let me see other worlds, no matter how much I asked."

Master Xehanora smiled as she points her hand out towards Vinnie as a great wind blows in Vinnie's direction from behind.

Vinnie was bracing the wind as Xehanora commanded right before casting Vinnie and Mickey alike into the Lanes Between, "Go. You can ask the woman yourself. Learn the truth, and remember you have a greater purpose!"

Then, Master Xehanora summoned Terrina to the badlands to warn her.

"Master Xehanora, you wished to see me?" Terrina asked.

"There is no time to lose!" Xehanora warned, "I've terrible news. Vinnietus has stumbled upon the secrets of her origins."

"Vinnie?" Terrina was confused, "But I just saw her, she passed right in front of me. What happened?"

"Vinnietus is on her way home. If you could have seen the fury in her eyes...," Xehanora started to act so distress, "I'm certain she's capable of anything. I fear the girl may attempt to force the truth out of Eraqua. Master Terrina, you must hurry back and see to your friend's safety."

"Of course," Terrina answered as she knew it was unlike Vinnie to force anything out of anybody. Concerned, she raced after her friend.

Xehanora chuckled darkly as Terrina traveled back to the Land of Departure...

* * *

Vinnie returned to the Land of Departure and was greeted by Master Eraqua, but she looked away.

"Vinnietus, you're alone? I thought Aquarius would...," Eraqua said as she walked over to a hesitant Vinnie and placed her arms on the girl's shoulders, "Well, what matters is that you're home. You don't belong outside this world yet. You need to stay here where you can learn-"

"In your prison?"

Master Eraqua was shocked to hear that, "What?"

"That's your excuse...for keeping me imprisoned here, isn't it?" Vinnie angrily yelled at Eraqua.

"What did you hear?" Eraqua asked.

"That I'm supposed to be some weapon...," Vinnie answered, "Some kind of...'χ-blade'!"

The very mention of the name confirmed Eraqua's worst fears, that Xehanora had not truly abandoned her old ambitions, "I knew it. Xehanora-she could never let it go."

Eraqua remembered a time past, a memorable conflict between herself and Xehanora.

 _"They say ruin brings about creation. So, what would yet another Keyblade War bring?" Xehanora said, "When the darkness falls, will we be found worthy of the precious light the legend speaks of? I must have these answers. The χ-blade needs to be forged, and with it, the door to the Keyblade War will be unlocked!"_

 _"If words won't dissuade you," Eraqua said as she summons her Keyblade and runs toward Master Xehanora, "only one thing will."_

 _Xehanora turned as well, smiling, summoning her Keyblade with darkness as lightning swirls around her. She points her blade with a yell, and two bolts of dark energy shoot out and strike Master Eraqua in the face._

 _Eraqua faltered and she collapsed to the floor as Xehanora walks closer to her and the darkness around her vanished._

 _"That power!" Eraqua said as darkness emanated from the scars on her face, "Has the darkness taken you, Xehanora?"_

 _But Xehanora just answered, "It's none of your concern."_

But the truth was a disaster waiting to happen. Master Eraqua rubs one of her scars with a knuckle as she said, "I failed. I had the chance to stop her and couldn't do it. But I will not fail again."

Unwilling to repeat this failure, Eraqua prepared to imprison Vinnie as she summons her Keyblade and prevent Xehanora's ambitions from being achieved.

Vinnie gasped as she backed away, "Master! What are you..."

Master Eraqua had no choice but to lock her pupil's heart away to keep that disaster contained as she said, "The χ-blade has no place in this or any world. Xehanora has made her purpose clear...and I am left with no choice. Forgive me...but you must exist no more!"

But before she could, Terrina arrived just in the nick of time and rushed to Vinnie's defense.

"Master, have you gone mad?"

"Terrina!" Eraqua was shocked, then ordered, "I command you-step aside!"

Terrina's armor vanishes as she shouted, "No!"

Master Eraqua angrily asked, "You will not heed your Master?"

"I won't!"

Master Eraqua felt conflicted as she said, "Why do all my attempts to reach you fail? If you don't have it in your heart to obey...then you will have to share Vinnietus's fate."

Pushed to the limit, Terrina released the powers of darkness inside her, enraging Eraqua as she said to her master, "You may be my Master. But I will not...let you hurt my friend!"

"Has the darkness taken you, too, Terrina?"

At the first chance she got, Terrina opened a portal to the Lanes Between and tossed Vinnie inside. Then, she and Eraqua clashed, fighting until they both hardly had the strength to stand.

Only then, battered and wounded, did Terrina calm down and realize what she had done.

Fear and incredulity stretched across her face as Terrina said, "What have I done..."

Terrina stepped closer to her Master to beg forgiveness, "Master... I just...wanted to keep Vinnie safe."

"No, you were right. I failed you, Terrina," Eraqua said, weakened, "Perhaps I have no one to blame but myself for the darkness inside you. And now I've done worse-raised my Keyblade against you and Vinnietus."

Terrina shakes her head as Eraqua continued, "Even my own heart is darkness!"

But as it turns out, this was exactly what Master Xehanora had hoped for; Terrina watched in horror as her new "mentor" struck the weakened Eraqua down. She had been fooled.

Terrina breathes heavily, planting her hands on the ground, sobbing, "Master Eraqua!"

Then, Master Xehanora appeared, laughing, "What a sight. Why do you trouble yourself with remorse, Master Terrina? The woman was bent on doing harm to your friend, her own pupil!"

Terrina looked up, "Master Xehanora! Why?"

"You know, at times I find your progress quite striking. But you still fall short," Xehanora replied, "Let all that anger out, my girl. Give your heart over to darkness!"

Terrina stands up and summoned her Keyblade as she asked, "What do you mean?"

"Still so blind...," Xehanora chuckled as she summons her Keyblade, "Then I will make you see."

The old woman dared Terrina to come to the Keyblade Graveyard, where all Keyblade wielders leave their mark on fate. There, she said, Terrina would watch Vinnietus and Aquarius meet their ends, and the last light within her would die.

Her true intentions finally unmasked as Xehanora proceeded to tear the Land of Departure asunder.

As the world she had grown up in collapsed around him, Terrina rushed into the Lanes Between, swearing to protect her friends.

* * *

After departing Destiny Islands, Aquarius finds Minnie drifting unconscious in the Lanes Between worlds and immediately moves to pick her up.

Minnie was hurt, and he could tell from the murmurs that she needed to get back to Yen Sid.

But when Aquarius took her to the sorcerer's tower while Daisy and Clarabelle see to their Queen, Yen Sid informed him with shocking news: Master Eraqua had met her demise at the hands of Master Xehanora...and Terrina.

Unwilling to believe it, Aquarius set off for the Keyblade Graveyard to confront his friend and find out the truth.

* * *

A portal to the Lanes Between opened and Vinnie came tumbling out onto a beach. Destiny Islands.

Even now, she could hardly believe it. The woman who had been like a mother to her and her fellow apprentices tried to hurt her because of the mysterious threat of the χ-blade

Vinnie didn't understand it at all, but she couldn't bear to see her Master, and the woman she loves like a sister fight one another because of her.

It wasn't right, it wasn't fair.

Although determined to return to the Land of Departure and resolve the situation, Vinnie was intercepted and confronted by Vanita.

Ignoring her, Vinnie trudged off to find her way back. When Vanita insisted they join and create the χ-blade, Vinnie flatly refused, knowing she could prevent the blade from being forged if she did not fight.

But now that Vinnietus's two halves faced each other again on the beach. Vanita beckoned Vinnie to the Keyblade Graveyard, where she could either fight, or watch as Terrina's and Aquarius's lives were snuffed out.

* * *

Led by destiny, Terrina, Vinnietus, and Aquarius assembled in the Keyblade Graveyard.

In a barren clearing, amidst countless Keyblades reduced to rust and ruin, stood Terrina. Aquarius appeared and questioned her about Master Eraqua's demise.

"I was told...the Master was struck down," Aquarius said.

"Yes...that's right," Terrina admitted, looking away with tears as her face went dark, "I was stupid and helped Xehanora do it."

Aquarius gasped as Terrina continued, "The Master...she tried to hurt Vinnie. I don't know why, but...I only fought because I wanted to protect her. But I was tricked. Xehanora set the whole thing up, all of this so she could awaken the darkness inside me."

Terrina went up to Aquarius and hugged him as she said, sobbing, "You were right, Aquarius, and so was the Master. I did need to be watched. I went astray, but no more."

Aquarius put his hand on Terrina's cheek to wipe away the tears as he told her, "What else is darkness but hate and rage? Xehanora's feeding the dark fires within you, making you fight. You'll do the same thing again. So, tell me...How does that even honor our Master's memory, anyway?"

Vinnietus walked up to them as she explained, "Xehanora wants me and Vanita to fight, and make some kind of 'χ-blade'. But the Master said we can't let that happen...and she tried to destroy me for it."

"χ-blade?"

"I still don't know exactly what it is," Vinnie replied, "But...it just scares me to death. Even just the thought of it."

"Relax, Vinnie," Terrina said to her as she and Aquarius move closer to her, "We're here and we're gonna take care of you."

But Vinnie looked down as she said, "I may have to fight Vanita after all. If I do, guys...I want you to-"

"Don't said another word. It's not over. It's just not...," Terrina interrupted as she place her hand on Vinnie's shoulder.

Vinnie shook her head and removes Terrina's hand as she said sadly, "I'm asking you, as a friend... Just...put an end to me."

Just then, a big gust of wind appeared and in the distance, Master Xehanora approaches with Vanita at her side.

"Behold...," Master Xehanora spoke up, "These lifeless keys used to be full of power, united with the hearts of their masters. On this barren soil, these Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat...as a great Keyblade War raged. Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me...The ultimate, all-powerful χ-blade!"

Master Xehanora's intentions were all made clear. Her desire was to create the ultimate χ-blade. Only with it, she can call upon Kingdom Hearts and recreate the epic Keyblade War.

A violent clash ensued as Terrina, Aquarius, and Vinnietus engage their armors.

Almost instantly, Terrina had donned her armor and was charging toward Xehanora, but with a single twitch, their foe bent the very earth; with a flick of the wrist the Keyblades embedded in the ground freed themselves and formed a violent vortex of metal that spiraled skyward.

Try as she might, Terrina could not break past the walls of stone and steel to reach Xehanora.

Vinnie had crept up on Xehanora from behind, but when she moved to strike, she found herself caught; a moment later she had been turned to ice.

Xehanora flashed a crooked smile as she changed her Keyblade into an orb of light, which raced into the sky, parting the thick clouds above and revealing Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

Down below, Terrina picked herself up and took off her helmet as anger was coursing through her. She glows brightly and summons her glider, riding it to the top of the mountain.

Terrina jumped down and dispels her armor and stared at Master Xehanora with her blue eyes.

Meanwhile, Aquarius watched over Vinnie, who lay down in his arms, when a voice appeared, "How 'bout you leave the popsicle with me, so you can go have your little fight with Terrina."

Aquarius was confronted by Master Xehanora's accomplice, Gigy, who continued, "You can't be too happy about her deep-sixing your Master."

"Who are you?" Aquarius asked.

"Let's just say...a friend of Xehanora," Gigy answered as she chuckled darkly and her yellow eyes were glinting.

"Admirably done," Xehanora said to Terrina on top of the mountain, "I knew this was a journey you could make-over the unseen wall that divides darkness and light. And I wasn't wrong, Terrina!"

Terrina angrily scoffed.

"You really think that you two have got some big grand role to play," Gigy said to Aquarius and Vinnie, "As if. You're only here so that when I finish you off...Terrina will succumb to darkness. So...which of you lucky winners would like to go first?"

Vinnietus glared at Gigy as she shouted furiously, "Shut up!"

"Oh, so this kiddo thinks she's a full-fledged Keyblade wielder? She'd got the angry look right there."

"Go ahead if you want to waste time," Aquarius said to Gigy as he sets Vinnietus down, "Keep trying to drive us apart with mind games. It'll never work! Terrina will prove to you she's stronger!"

Aquarius summons his Keyblade and runs toward Gigy, who reveals her arrowguns. Vinnie lay frozen while the two fought.

"My friend, Vinnie...," Terrina said as she summons her Keyblade and Xehanora give out a wide-eyed smile, "Tell me, Xehanora-what did you do to her?"

"Why, I kinda did her a little favor and freed the darkness inside her," Xehanora answered, "What, like poor Vinnietus never had the fortitude for such...strenuous trials?!"

"XEHANORA!" Terrina shouted.

To fuel Terrina's growing rage, Xehanora commanded Vanita to end the lives of Vinnietus and Aquarius. Vanita nodded as Terrina knocks Xehanora back, turning to run after the girl, but Vanita jumped down the mountain.

Before Terrina reaches the edge, Xehanora teleported before her. Terrina, stunned, jumped back.

Down below, Gigy was outmatched, "I keep forgetting-don't mess with Keyblade wielders. But you know what? That just means I made the right choice!"

Aquarius angrily ran toward her as Gigy continued, "Well...she wanted me to buy time, and I'd say she got it."

"What?" Aquarius asked when Gigy exit the scene, then he turned to Vinnie, who's still frozen, "Vinnie!"

"Aquarius," Vinnie shouted, "Look out!"

Frozen and unable to move, Vinnie watched as Vanita struck Aquarius down.

"You see how powerless you are to save them?" Xehanora tells Terrina, "Savor that rage and despair. Let it empower you!"

"You will pay, Xehanora!" Terrina said to Xehanora, furiously as darkness poured out of her, "Was my Master... No, my mother, Eraqua, not enough for you? Leave my friends alone!"

"Yes, girl, that's it! More! Let your whole heart blacken with anger!"

Terrina feels energy coursing through her as the darkness keeps growing deeper. Then, she lets out a great scream and darkness explodes out of her body as Terrina fights Xehanora.

Furiously, Vinnie broke free of the ice that held her, and in an intense clash, defeated Vanita. But that was exactly what Xehanora had planned for her all along.

"You've done it, Vinnietus," Vanita said as she dispels her Keyblade. Vinnietus stared at Vanita as she takes off her helmet, revealing that she has startling yellow eyes and spiky black hair, "Because now that my body's about to perish...you and I will have to join together! The χ-blade will be forged!"

Darkness poured forth from Vanita's body, spawning a swarm of Unversed to pinned Vinnie down. All of the Unversed had begun in the darkness.

"The Unversed...come from you?" Vinnie asked.

Vanita nodded as she laughed to herself, "It all happened when you and I were split into two. The negativity took shippy ship-shape as these monsters. They're what I feel-an army of fledgling emotions under MY control. I've been releasing them in all the worlds I could, hoping to lure you away from home and isolate you from your Master."

Vanita walked closer to Vinnie. While Aquarius lied down unconscious on the ground, Vanita continued, "We needed to make you stronger, so the Unversed were the perfect opponents. And better yet, no matter how many times you and your friends beat them...their negativity flows right back into me. You never stood a chance against us, Vinnietus."

Helplessly, Vinnietus watched as Vanita crept closer. As the two fused, an enormous column of energy burst skyward. Vinnie was engulfed in light, and passed out.

* * *

At the top of the mountain, Terrina knocked the old woman to the ground. But it was too late when a vast column of energy had risen.

Xehanora looked up and smiled as she cried, "The χ-blade has been forged!"

"Vinnie!" Terrina shouted.

At that moment, Xehanora had released her heart from her body as she said, "And now, Terrina, it is time for the biggest part of my plan: A little thing I liked to call...THE FINAL UNION!"

"What?" Terrina's eyes were widened.

"At last, our moment has arrived," Xehanora cried as she opens her arms, "Out with the old and brittle vessel, and in with a younger and stronger new one!"

Xehanora's body glowed as Terrina gasped and backed away slightly as the heart floats over Xehanora, who raises her arms toward it.

"I swore that I would survive...and be there to see what awaited beyond the Keyblade War!" Xehanora said with an evil smile, then looked at Terrina, "For now, it is your darkness...THAT SHALL BE THE ARK THAT SUSTAINS ME!"

Xehanora fires her heart at Terrina, who quickly summoned her armor to try and protect herself.

But Terrina was unable to move and Xehanora's body disappears into shimmers of light.

A few seconds later, everything went silent...

...until all of Terrina's armor fell off, and her Keyblade felt to the ground as well, for her hair has turned white, her eyes were yellow when she opened them, and her voice was deeper.

Xehanora had finally possessed Terrina's body! She had succeeded as she shook with glee in her new, sexy body.

"This heart belongs again to darkness," Xehanora said as she smiled, "All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came."

* * *

Aquarius woke up in Minnie's arms. Vanita had caught him off guard and knocked him out. They saw Vinnietus nearby, but in her hand was the X-blade.

When Vinnietus regained her senses, she found herself inside her own heart. Vanita was there too, and possessed the χ-blade, but it was damaged.

"Our union was not finished," Vanita said, "And the χ-blade shouldn't stay broken like this. Join me now, and we can complete the χ-blade!"

Vinnie shakes her head and summons her Keyblade as she said, "I've got a better idea. How 'bout I destroy you both?"

Vanita laughed, "The χ-blade is made of your heart, too, you know. If you destroy it, your heart will vanish forever."

"Whatever it takes. Anything to save Terrina and Aquarius."

Vanita scoffed, "It's always about your friends, isn't it?"

"At least I have some!" Vinnie cried, "I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power, and I'm theirs!"

The two duel each other in the rifts of Vinnietus's heart.

Aquarius gasped and took a step back as Vinnie, with yellow eyes and an evil smile, moved to attack, but Minnie knocked the blade away with her own and stands defiant between her and Aquarius.

"That's not Vinnie!" Minnie warned.

"Correct. I am not Vinnietus," Vanita said as Aquarius and Minnie heard two voices speaking in unison, and Vinnie's outfit vanishes in dark smoke and becomes Vanita's black and red suit, "Her heart has become a part of mine now."

Aquarius gasped for it was true that Vanita had already seized control of Vinnie's body.

Vanita lifted the χ-blade as she said, "This χ-blade will open a door, the one that leads to ALL worlds! And then, Keyblade bearing warriors will flock here from each and every one of them, to battle for the light within Kingdom Hearts!"

Vanita then looked up at the blue moon overhead as she continued, "And just like the legend says, the Keyblade War will begin!"

"Shut up!" Aquarius shouted in anger, "I'm sick of your stupid words! Give Vinnie her heart back!"

Nearby, the pieces of Terrina's armor gathered together and took form; Terrina was still fighting back.

"What?" Xehanora was stunned as the area was surrounded her by orange chains of energy.

Then, Xehanora turned to see the armor, fully gathered, kneeling with its hands on the Keyblade as it waited silently, "Your body submitted to darkness,...your heart succumb to darkness,...so why does your mind resist?!"

The armor stands slowly. She grabs the Keyblade with her right arm and lifts it carefully out of the ground, engaging in combat with her former body. With the last of her free will, Terrina defeated Master Xehanora.

Meanwhile, Aquarius tried with all his might to free Vinnie's heart, but against the χ-blade, his might was nowhere near enough.

"What's wrong? Giving up already?" Vanita taunted Aquarius.

Aquarius clutched the Wayfinder as he said, "Terrina, Vinnie, lend me strength."

As love for his friends filled his heart, light filled his Keyblade. Aquarius summoned the last of his strength and brought the Keyblade crashing down on Vanita, cracking the χ-blade and releasing a torrent of energy that spilled out into the Keyblade Graveyard, swallowing Aquarius and everything else.

Inside Vinnie's heart, both the χ-blade and Vinnie's Keyblade disintegrated. Vinnie smiled, knowing her friends were finally safe from Vanita, and then slowly faded away.

By the time the lightstorm subsided and Kingdom Hearts had vanished from sight, Terrina's armor lay still as the darkness took it.

"Aquarius, Vinnie...," Terrina said, "One day, I will set this right."

* * *

In the aftermath, when Aquarius suddenly woke up, he was inside Yen Sid's tower.

"What happened?" Aquarius rubbed his head.

"You have lost consciousness," Yen Sid answered as Aquarius looked up at him, "Fortunately, Minnie found you and Vinnietus drifting in the Lanes Between, and brought you back to me to receive proper care. I am sorry, but there was no sign of Terrina."

"Right," Aquarius sighed as he puts his hand on Vinnie's shoulder, waking her up, "Vinnie! Vinnietus!"

But Vinnie remained still as Yen Sid explained, "The girl's heart is sleeping."

"When will she wake?" Aquarius asked, worried.

"I could not say. It is almost as though her heart has left," Yen Sid answered, "If it returns, she may very well wake. If not, she may sleep like this for all eternity."

Aquarius then looked at Vinnie as he said, "I'll keep her safe, until she wakes. Forever if I have to."

"I will tell you what your friend needs right now. It is not your protection."

"Then, what is it?" Aquarius looked confused.

"She needs you to believe," Yen Sid began to explained as he sits in his tall chair, "You see, Vinnietus's heart hangs in the balance. It sleeps in the place between light and darkness. From all I can perceive, that means she will be looking for a friend. Someone who believes in her, to show her the way home. Just as long as you love her...then Vinnietus will be able to find you when she wakes. She can follow that love back to where she belongs-the realm of light."

Yen Sid smiled as Minnie reassured to Aquarius, "Don't worry, Aquarius. I believe in Vinnie, too. She's been as good a friend to me as anybody. And if both you and me believe in her with all our hearts, then she'll have two lights to follow instead of one."

"More like three lights," Aquarius said, then lowered his head, "But... Terrina..."

"I know...," Minnie replied, "Terrina's gone. Maybe for good."

But then, Aquarius began to raise his head as he realized something. He looked at his Wayfinder and said to Minnie, "I think...I know how to find her."

And so, it was that Aquarius lifted his friend into his arms and set off on a new journey to find Terrina, who had been missing since the lightstorm.

* * *

Guided by Vinnie, Aquarius found himself returning to the beloved home the three of them had shared. But all that remained were ghastly ruins: a mass of twisted earth and buildings.

Aquarius did as the late Master Eraqua had instructed him, activating a certain "trick" devised to protect their land from being used for evil purposes.

As he did, a blaze of dazzling light transformed everything-the hall, the earth, and even the sky-into a new world that would draw all who visited into the depths of oblivion. Aquarius had locked the Land of Departure.

Aquarius left Vinnie in one of the rooms, running his fingers through her hair, hoping that she can hear his voice, then departed as he said to Vinnietus, "I know it's a lonely place, but you'll be fine. Terrina and I will be back to wake you up before you know it."

Aquarius left the room, and eventually the castle, walking out onto a long stretch of dusty road winding into a dark abyss. He then turned around to see that it has turned into a dark golden castle and its many twisting structures, which would eventually come to be known as Castle Oblivion.

Aquarius then heard a voice echoing to her, "Aquarius... Put an end to me."

Aquarius gazed into the abyss as he said, "Terrina, tell me where to find you."

* * *

The faint sound of Terrina's voice led him to Radiant Garden, where he found a woman who looked just like her.

The woman was struggling to dig through the morass of her own memory and remember who she was.

As Aquarius had gotten close, seeing her white air and yellow eyes, he stopped. Her gaze was on the heavens, inseparable.

"Wait a minute,... Terrina...is that you?" Aquarius asked her as he tried to see her new look as if they were familiar.

The woman then looked at Aquarius and reaches her hand out toward him as Aquarius backed away due to this odd gesture.

Aquarius smiled as she rubs his face and cheek, seductively...and then his smile faded when she clutches his throat and lifts him off the ground.

A look of confusion and loss was written on his face, Aquarius struggles as he's being choked, and Terrina's body was surrounded by a dark aura.

"Who...am I?"

"Such a tempting...darkness...," Aquarius choked, "Fight it, Terrina, please!"

"Terrina...you say?"

The darkness emanating from this stranger could belong to only one person: Master Xehanora.

She dropped him as Aquarius was catching his breath as Xehanora clutches her head in an internal struggle.

Then, she began to laugh as Xehanora said to Aquarius, "Terrina's heart has been extinguished, smothered by the darkness within her."

Aquarius gasped as Xehanora summons her Keyblade and slammed it forward. Aquarius jumped away.

"The name is Master Aquarius," Aquarius said as he summoned his keyblade and challenged Xehanora, determined to win back Terrina's heart. "Give me back my friend or you're going down!"

Xehanora lost the fight and began to writhe; Terrina's heart was fighting back from the inside.

"Stop fighting back!" Xehanora said as she struggles to release from the grip, but is forced into a stiff position, her arms away from her sides.

"Terrina, I know you're in there!" Aquarius shouted.

In a desperate move to rid herself of Terrina once and for all, Xehanora turned her own Keyblade on herself as she shouted, "This'll teach you. Get out of my heart!"

"NO!" Aquarius shouted as Terrina began to sink into the pool of darkness that spilled forth.

Aquarius dove into the darkness to pull his friend out, but soon realized only one of them would be able to return. He chose to sacrifice himself and sent Terrina back to the realm of light.

Down, down, down... Aquarius's last thoughts before vanishing from sight were of Vinnie, and who would care for her once he was gone, "Vinnie, I'm sorry... I might not make it back soon. But I promise I'll be there, one day, to wake you up."

Aquarius shined as he was the only light in this dark place...

* * *

Night had fallen on the Destiny Islands. Sorette and Rika were gazing up at the stars when Rika sits up after a while and turned to Sorette, "Hey, I'm gonna head back."

"Me too," Sorette agreed as she got up as well.

As they walked back toward town, however, Rika looked over to Sorette, noticing something, "Sorette, what's the matter?"

"Huh?"

"You're...," Rika pointed a tear falling from Sorette's cheek.

Sorette puts her hand to her face, catching the tear. She was surprised that grief somehow overcame her. But why, when she had no reason to be sad?

"That's weird," Sorette said, "It's like something's squeezing me inside."

"Somebody up there must be sad," Rika suggested, "They say every world is connected by one great big sky. So maybe there's somebody up there in all those worlds who's really hurting, and they're waiting for you to help them."

"Well, gee, do you think there's something I could do?"

"Hmm... Maybe they just need you to open your heart and listen."

"I dunno, Rika. You say some weird stuff sometimes, but I'll try it."

So Sora closed his eyes and tried. Riku looks up as well.

In the white chamber in Castle Oblivion, the comatose Vinnietus rest peacefully when she heard little Sorette's voice, "Hey... Can you hear me?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Radiant Garden, Gigy led Wonas the Wise to a woman who had collapsed in the square as she said, "Right this way."

When they got there, Aquarius's armor and Keyblade were also on the ground nearby as well.

Wonas stepped over to the woman and gathered her in her arms as she asked, "Young lady, what ails you?"

The woman wakes up slowly as Wonas the Wise asked again, "Can you speak? Tell me your name."

Delirious, the woman replied, "Xeha...nora."

"Xehanora?" Wonas the Wise was confused by that name, but when the woman passed out again, she then turned to Gigy, "Quickly, get her to the castle!"

Gigy smirked as she picked up Xehanora, "You can count on me."

Then, Gigy turned to Ladia and told her to get Aquarius's armor and Keyblade, "Ladia, get those for me."

* * *

Elsewhere, Aquarius was trudging through endless darkness.

"I've been walking for ages," Aquarius said, "How long have I been down here?"

Just then, sinister monsters surrounded him, and he could no longer fight the urge to bring his struggle to a close.

But as he lowered his Keyblade in resignation, light came pouring into the darkness. It shifted and changed, becoming two Keyblades: Terrina's, and Vinnie's.

In a flash, they had destroyed the monsters around him. Aquarius realized his friends had found a way to reach him-and in the deepest darkness, he had found light.

"I guess it's been so long, I almost forgot how to smile," Aquarius said as he looked at his Wayfinder and remembered the smiling faces of all the friends he had made.

He smiled and looked up, "There's always a way."

* * *

Vinnie was drifting through her own darkness when she heard a familiar voice.

"I've been here. So warm...," Vinnie said as the brightest light enveloped her, "I remember now. This is your heart."

Exhausted from the long journey, Vinnie's heart decided she belonged with the voice's heart. She was going home.

Deep within her heart, Sorette encountered Vinnie's heart, having followed their connection back to her heart, as she called out, "Hey... Can you hear me?"

"I heard your voice," Vinnie's voice had heard from the floating heart, "It cut through the darkness around me."

Sorette gazed at it, smiling and reach out to catch it as Vinnie continued, "All alone, I followed the sound into a sea of light, and found myself here, with you. You gave me something back when I needed it most. A second chance."

"I did?" Sorette asked.

Sorette was the newborn heart Vinnie had encountered years ago, the same heart that helped Vinnie obtain another chance at life.

"Yeah..., but now I have to go back to sleep again," Vinnie said.

"Are you sad?" Sorette asked Vinnie, sadly.

"Would you mind if I stayed here, with you?"

Sorette smiled as she answered, "Sure, if it'll make you feel better."

"Thank you," Vinnie said as the heart floats into Sorette's chest and she closed her eyes.

Sorette took a deep breath and was back on Destiny Islands when she opened her eyes.

"Well?" Rika asked.

Sorette looks over at Rika, who stood beside her on their way home as three stars twinkle in the night sky, and answered, "You know... I think it worked."

 _In time, the worlds would be saved by these two heroines who stood beneath the same blaze of stars._


	4. Fragment: The Source of all Heartless

**_Hidden truths_**

"Darkness rules your heart. It gives me control," Master Xehanora yawned, relaxing, "Muscle and sinew that once obeyed you now rebels against you. How you can remain here at all confounds the mind."

"It's still my heart. You think you can just come in and take over?" Terrina stood with her, "I'm not gonna sit by and let that happen."

Master Xehanora chuckled, "Don't even entertain any notions of escaping me, girl. Because in the end, your heart will be engulfed by mine forever."

"Wrong," Terrina replied, "You're gonna get shown the door, old lady."

Something changes in Master Xehanort's eyes as she said, "Oh, please. As I recall, you couldn't even handle your own darkness. How will you triumph over mine, then?"

Master Xehanora started to smirk, but Terrina gives a small laugh, knocking it from her face.

"Well, you'll find out soon enough," Terrina answered.

Master Xehanora's eyes widen and then narrowed, "Oh...so that's how it is, huh? Someone else has set foot in your heart. Eraqua, her life force. Heh, Eraqua, you're such a sly fox!"

"I'm not afraid of what the darkness holds now," Terrina said to Master Xehanora, "Even if you do arrest control of my heart from me...even if you cast me into the deepest, darkest abyss...you'll never sway me from the one cause that pushes me to keep on fighting. Whatever the cost, I'm ready to pay it."

"Brave words, coming from you," Master Xehanora replied, "But I'm a patient woman. We can take as much time as we need to settle this little property dispute. However, know this-you're just one of many roads that I might choose to take. Trust me, I've made certain of that."

Master Xehanora laughed as her yellow eyes glinted.

* * *

 ** _Image of their backs, preserved in memory_**

Xehanora, now the apprentice of Wonas the Wise, was walking through the castle of Radiant Garden in her white lab coat when Gigy ran up to her and puts an arm around her shoulder.

"Hey! Miss Master!" Gigy said to Xehanora, but she said nothing. "Oh c'mon, you don't even know your own pal? Please, tell me the amnesia was just a sick joke. Boy, this is some cliché."

Xehanora attempts to remove Gigy's hand from her shoulder, but she insists, looking her straight in her brown eyes and her face turned serious.

"Wait, you're not...Terrina?" Gigy was confused, but still Xehanora said nothing, "Uh, just gotta check."

But Gigy removes her arm from Xehanora's shoulder and taps her on her back as she laughed, "As if! Well, don't sweat it. I got your back."

As they continued walking down the hall, the other two, Wonas the Wise and Ienza, were walking through a corridor, eating sea-salt ice cream together.

Ienza stopped suddenly, to Wonas's surprise and turned back, gazing at Xehanora and Gigy. Wonas followed her gaze.

* * *

 **Wonas's Report 1 (Wonas the Wise)**

 _Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge._

 _That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that._

 _I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand._

 _I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times._

 _Darkness...Darkness of the heart. How is it born?_

 _How does it come to affect us so?_

 _As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness._

* * *

 _ **A few years later...**_

The people of Radiant Garden lived in peace, with Wonas the Wise maintaining the balance of their world.

In the center of the town was a small research facility where Wonas and her apprentices carried out many experiments.

Her apprentices were six - Xehanora, Eve, Ienza, Gigy, Ladia, and Selena - and each were brilliant in her own way.

Wonas, however, had only one objective: to uncover the secrets of the darkness in the heart. With Eve's help, Wonas performed a little experiment on Xehanora. It was meant to awaken the sleeping memories in Xehanora's heart.

 **Secret Wonas Report 1 (Wonas the Wise)**

 _My efforts these many years have come to fruition, with the world I govern having become a paradise worthy of being called "Radiant Garden."_

 _Nurtured by the pure water that is the source of life, fragrant flowers bloom in abundance, and the people face each day with hopeful smiles._

 _But where there is light, darkness also lurks. As noted in my earlier reports, I must solve the mystery of this "darkness of the heart." This paradise depends on it._

 _I shall perform an experiment to probe the depths of a person's heart. One of my own apprentices, Xehanora, has volunteered to be a subject._

 _The young woman has served me ever since I nursed her back from death's door some years ago._

 _She had lost all her memories at the time, but later showed remarkable intellectual curiosity and readily absorbed my teachings, gaining deep wisdom. Any mental immaturity is surely due to his young age._

 _If I explore Xehanora's heart with psychological tests, I may be able to recall the past locked away within. My apprentice Eve has also shown great interest in Xehanora's memories._

 _But is she really the right subject? Xehanora does indeed exhibit extraordinary talents..._

 _Too extraordinary..._

 _Perhaps they are even superhuman._

* * *

 **Wonas's Report 2 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:_

 _Extract the darkness from a person's heart._

 _Cultivate darkness in a pure heart._

 _Both suppress and amplify the darkness within._

 _The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle._

 _Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness...What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?_

* * *

Aquarius stood along a desolate dark road. His Wayfinder shines brightly and he clutches it tight to his chest, smiling.

"As long as you're with me," Aquarius, "I'll always find my way back. Always."

As Aquarius walked further down the road, sternly scanning the dark surroundings, he stopped and look at his Wayfinder again, hoping for a some clue of a pathway to take. Suddenly, he feels a rumbling and looked up as if the world around him began to shake.

"What the...?" Aquarius gasped as a dark portal appears from above. It pulses with energy and a light bursts forth from inside, ripping the sky apart. A stream of darkness surges through the light, forcing its way out.

Aquarius watches with bated breath. He looked down at his Wayfinder for its light had gone out, "What is going on?"

As Aquarius makes his way through the Realm of Darkness, fighting through hordes of Heartless, the conception of time works very differently.

* * *

Wonas the Wise no longer understood what precipitated it. But at some point, the research slipped from her control, and her apprentices found experimental subjects on their own. They continued the studies in an enormous laboratory built under Ienza's direction.

And then, the night when they opened to Door to Darkness, meteors rained down on their world. But could it be related to what Aquarius saw in the Realm of Darkness? That may be, however...

But that meteor shower was also the reason her apprentices' activities came to Wonas's attention.

"You were conducting experiments _without_ my supervision and permission?!" Wonas yelled at her apprentices, who were all gathered in her study.

"But Master Wonas -," Xehanora began.

"I don't want to hear it anymore. Shut it all down immediately!" Wonas snapped. "I won't have the Door to Darkness to be opened by anyone!"

Xehanora, the young woman who had once lost her memory, persisted. "But the truth of the worlds is there."

"Which is denied, and I will not allow it! Out. I'm sealing the entire lab."

At that, the apprentices all left the lab. Wonas made sure the door was closed and locked behind them before she sank into her chair and let out a bone-deep sigh.

 **Wonas's Report 4 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace._

 _I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves._

 _Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?_

 _It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?_

 **Wonas's Report 5 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence._

 _It had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. So I opened the door. What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy? That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?_

 **Wonas's Report 6 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless._

 _The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too-the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world._

 _The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?_

 **Wonas's Report 7 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily. None of the records even mention such a substance._

 _Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world... I wish I could soar off and find out! Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow._

 _But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place._

 **Wonas's Report 8 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart._

 _As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless._

 _This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially._

* * *

Wonas the Wise's study was piled high with books and documents. At the large desk in the center of the room, Wonas the Wise sat munching on her favorite blue salty-sweet sea-salt ice cream pop, listening intently to the visitor from another world - Queen Minnie Mouse.

"Wise Wonas, I'm here to seek your advice," said Queen Minnie.

Wonas smiled, "I'm glad we have the opportunity to speak like this, my friend. I'm intrigued by your hypothesis...and I'm finding it difficult to stave off the urge to test it." She paused there, taking another bite of ice cream, and her expression darkened. "Still, I'm concerned about the stability of the worlds."

Wonas the Wise knew that the door had already been opened. It was the reckless actions of her apprentices, based on her own experiments, and yet she couldn't help but feel the blame lay entirely with her.

"Yep, that's what worries me too," Minnie replied.

"The doors that appeared. The place the Heartless seek... I fear my research may have brought this upon us..." Wonas rested her forehead in her hands.

Then, there was a knock at the door. A young woman stepped into the study - Xehanora. "Master Wonas. Regarding the experiment I presented the other day...With your permission, I'd like to proceed-"

"I forbid it! Forget this talk of doors, and the heart of all worlds!" Wonas stood to stare down Xehanora and told her with quiet finality, "That place mustn't be defiled!"

In Wonas's mind, it was clear to her that the heart was sacrosanct. And the darkness within the heart must not be tempered with. Because darkness in the heart would invite the darkness in the world... Then, the world would be corrupted, and its stability will break down. And they must not let that happen.

"But, Master Wonas! I've been thinking..."

Wonas shook her head. "Xehanora...Those thoughts are best left forgotten."

Defeated, Xehanora took a step back, nodded, and left the room.

And so it happened that Wonas the Wise abandoned her studies of the heart a while back, but Xehanora couldn't let it stop there. She and the other apprentices betrayed Wonas and cast their hearts away to continue their master's research.

* * *

 **Wonas's Report 9 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _Simply astonishing! Today my master had a guest from another world. She is a queen, and her vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. She called the pieces "gummi blocks". It seemed that my opening the door has opened a path to interworld travel._

 _We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the "Keyblade". The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power._

 _One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it. I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened._

 **Wonas's Report 10 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart._

 _Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing._

 _My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness._

 **Wonas's Report 11 (Xehanora the Apprentice)**

 _Opening the door to the world's heart causes its walls to crumble. These fragments are seen as shooting stars. This explains why these "gummi blocks" can travel freely to other worlds._

 _I know the catalyst of the collapse, the appearance of the Heartless. However, it will take time to search out the worlds' doors, and to retrieve each heart._

 _Furthermore, the doors can be locked using a Keyblade making the heart forever unattainable. I must take action before the wielder of this key appears in this world._

 _If the princes and the Keyblade are connected, they should resonate._

 _I have chosen a boy. I don't know if he holds the princes' powers, but I will find out. He may lead me to the key bearer._

 _I shall set him free and observe._

* * *

In the Outer Gardens, little Kai was picking up some flowers, then he turned around and stared into the sky as his charm twinkled.

Kai remembered back to a time when Aquarius touched his charm and it glowed with light. Then, Aquarius said to Kai in his memory, "I just cast a magic spell on you. One day, when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another, someone to keep you safe."

Back in the Realm of Darkness, Aquarius walked over a cracked lake, where a hidden creature stares at him through glowing red eyes. The creature jumped to another and Aquarius stared at it, taking in every inch.

Aquarius thought, _This monster... This is no Unversed._

The monster's body vanishes again as it stands before him, its red eyes peering through the thick darkness of the air.

"Just a dweller of darkness," Aquarius said to the monster as he eventually gains the upper hand and defeated the beast.

An unknown time later, he finds himself walking out of a familiar forest. He entered an empty glade and sees something ahead of her.

Aquarius was stunned as he gasped, "Could it be...?"

Before him lies a tall castle with a large clock on its topmost spire. A place he hadn't seen in a very long time. The dark clouds above seem to glared down upon him...

 ** _A fragmentary passage_**

* * *

In a laboratory room, Xehanora the apprentice scanned the view before her, seeing the fading Eve and Ienza laid on the floor. Darkness rises off of them like smoke.

"Hey! Is this how you wanted it?" Xehanora faced Gigy in the room, who started to walk toward her, "Xehanora! You wanna fill me in?"

Xehanora lifted her arm and summoned her black and white keyblade, "I am..."

"Hey! Do you remember now, or...," Gigy was concerned, "Wait, did you never lose your memory?"

But Xehanora, who didn't answered Gigy's question, leaped forward and plunged her blade into Gigy's chest, "That's not my name. I'm not 'Xehanora'."

Gigy's eyes were widen with shock and she fell down to the floor, exhaling loudly.

A heart surges from her chest as Xehanora began to said her now changed name, "My name... is Wonas."

* * *

 **Wonas's Report 12 (Xehanora, in a brown robe, reduced to just a heart. The being known as Wonas)**

 _The body is gone; the heart should have returned to the Heartless. And yet, nothing._

 _This one is unlike any other. Its memories remain, and it has yet to take the form of a Heartless._

 _A close eye must be kept on the situation. Much is still unknown._

 _To get to the realm of Darkness, one must go through the doors of Kingdom Hearts, the place where the world's hearts connect._

 _Beyond this world is a place in which Darkness reigns. (Details shall be archived in a separate report)_

 _There are many worlds in existence, some of which we know nothing about._

 _The world in which we live. The realm of Darkness. The realm of Light._

 _And the world in between._

 _Wherein lies true nirvana?_

* * *

 **Secret Wonas Report 2 (Wonas the Wise)**

 _I have made a grave mistake. My study of the "darkness of the heart" began with a simple psychological test and quickly snowballed._

 _Spurred on by my youngest apprentice, Ienza, I constructed a massive laboratory in the basement of my castle._

 _Unbeknownst to me, my six apprentices then began collecting a large number of subjects on which to perform dangerous experiments into the "darkness of the heart."_

 _As soon as I found out, I called my apprentices together and ordered them not only to cease their studies, but to destroy the results of their research thus far._

 _What on earth was happening within the hearts of my six beloved apprentices? While pursuing the mystery of the darkness of the heart, could they themselves have strayed into its depths?_

 _Yet I remain the most foolish of all, for having begun these experiments._

 _We are not meant to interfere in the depths of another's heart, no matter what our reasons for doing so..._

 _And my error plunged me into despair._

 _A visitor from another world soothed my dejected soul._

 _A tiny queen named Minnie came wielding a legendary key — the infamous "Keyblade," said to bring both chaos and prosperity to the world._

 _She was very knowledgeable on many topics, and we deepened our friendship as we conversed companionably._

 _Upon her advice, I decided to review the data obtained at my basement lab._

 _That is when I discovered the "Wonas's Reports."_

 _Though they bore my name, the only one I had written was number 0._

 _Apparently she had gone on to pen numbers 1 through 8 herself._

 _Yes — the first subject in my foolish experiments._

There was no doubt Wonas herself led all this as the one who'd begun these experiments. She tried to think what she could do to correct this grave mistake -

And that was when it happened.

 **Secret Wonas Report 3 (Wonas the Wise/DiZa)**

 _Chaos affects not only this world, but many other worlds besides._

 _In the "Wonas's Reports" my apprentice Xehanora had written under my name, I found the records of her hideous experiments along with her hypothesis about the door that had appeared out of the darkness in my basement._

 _All living things have hearts, and all hearts hold darkness deep within._

 _Worlds are no exception. If a world is a being, the heart it holds must be colossal..._

 _...and the darkness at its core must be monstrous indeed._

 _Did Xehanora pass through that door in an attempt to contact that dark realm?_

 _No, not only Xehanora._

 _It appears my other five apprentices, believing it was for the sake of research, stared deep into the darkness and were pulled into it._

 _Eve, Ienza, Gigy, Ladia, and Selena..._

 _They have ceased to be human._

 _I, too, have had everything taken away from me, banished to a hollow realm of nothingness._

 _What is Xehanora hoping to gain with my pilfered existence?_

 _Will my people cease to smile?_

 _If the light of hope has been extinguished, I shall henceforth walk with darkness as a friend._

 _Here, in the realm of nothingness to which I have been relegated._

 _Darkness in the midst of nothing._

 _"Darkness in Zero-a."_

 _Thus, I shall be known as DiZa._

 _Discarding the stolen name "Wonas"..._

 _And going in search of revenge._

* * *

 **9 years ago...**

The waves broke softly on the shore. The sea and sky went on forever. It was Destiny Islands, Sorette and Rika's island.

"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!" Sorette shouted after Rika.

"Are you sure you didn't just hear it?"

"What difference does it make? There's a huge monster in there, I tell you!"

The two girls, Sorette and Rika, stood in front of the waterfall. The cool water poured down in the sun, sparkling.

"All right. Suppose there really is a monster... Think we can beat it by ourselves, Sorette?"

"No problem. Let's do it!"

They walked to the entrance of the Secret Place. It was a cave with tree roots twining around the rocks. The ceiling had a great big hole in it, and they could see out to the bright blue sky.

Sorette and Rika heard the sounds of the waterfall drift away. They find nothing in the empty cave apart from a hole in the ceiling that air was pushing through.

"See that? It was just the wind making that noise," said Rika, looking up at the sky.

"Aw, really? I wish it was a monster!" Sorette folded her hands in her arms and sighed, "Hold on! What's that over there?"

It was a big wooden door, taller than Rika and Sorette combined, with golden decorations, like something out of fairy tale.

"A window, or maybe a door? It won't open," Rika said.

"Geez, is that really all that's in here?"

Rika turned back to her, "Hey, Sorette."

"Hm?"

"When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on real adventures, no more kid stuff!"

Rika's eyes grow wide with anticipation as Sora said, not minding it much, "Sure. But isn't there anything fun to do now?"

Sorette couldn't understand what Rika said. She hadn't given much thought to have real adventure together someday.

"Hey, you know the new boy at the mayor's house? Did you hear?"

At that, Rika looked up. "I heard."

That was back before Sorette and Rika had met Kai...

Back to when they knew nothing outside of their islands. Then, a while later, Kai and Sorette had drawn each other's faces on the wall, and they were still here.

* * *

 **Wonas's Report 13 (Xehanora, in a brown robe, reduced to just a heart. The being known as Wonas)**

 _Where does the body go when it separates from the heart? If the soul remains within the body, is it still considered to be deceased?_

 _When the heart returns to the Heartless, the physical form disappears. But that is merely true in this world. Perhaps the body exists in another form in another world._

 _If that is the case, then it is possible for one to exist in two worlds._

 _A being that is neither darkness nor light; belonging nowhere; abandoned by its heart; a mere shell of its former self._

 _The relation between the heart and the body is complex. However, I am certain that if your self exists here, then by definition the other cannot truly "exist." The other, the one which does not exist, shall be dubbed,_

 _"Nobody."_

* * *

 **A few years later...**

When Xehanora took the name 'Wonas' and became a Heartless, her Nobody was created in the process and became the leader of the Organization.

Xehanora's Nobody took a new name, Wonxas, and formed an organization with the other apprentices' Nobodies and with herself as the Superior. Once their numbers grew, they became known as 'Organization XIII'.

At the laboratory room in the castle of Radiant Garden, The hooded Wonxas walked over to the computer and inserts a disk.

Wonxas typed in "Another" and the computer brings him to another screen with six entry bars gathered around an inner circle symbol. She typed in the passwords into each of these and the screen switches to "System Start".

The computer returns to the normal screen and the disk is ejected as Wonxas takes the disk and pockets it, walking toward the now open door at the edge of the room.

Wonxas walked down the long stairs in the Heartless Manufactory. She then stepped down a spiral hallway as her thoughts travel back to several years ago.

 _Master Wonas. Regarding the experiment I presented the other day...With your permission, I'd like to proceed-_

 _I forbid it! Forget this talk of doors, and the heart of all worlds. That place mustn't be defiled!_

 _But, Master Wonas! I've been thinking..._

 _Xehanora...Those thoughts are best left forgotten._

As the thoughts vanished, Wonxas got to the end of the staircase and stopped. The door in front of her opened with a flash and she entered a white hallway. She walked past several barred and diamond-windowed cells with digital locks and comes to another door.

Wonxas enters a while room with black chains and Nobody symbols lining the walls and floor. The door closed behind her and she placed her hand on the chair in the center of the room before sitting down. Then, the chains and symbols glowed white, eminating from the central chair.

This was known as the Chamber of Repose.

"It has been far too long...friend," Wonxas said to a pile of blue armor lay on the floor next to a keyblade. It belonged...to Aquarius.

* * *

In the Dark World, Aquarius walked through a dark forest path when something in front of him catches his eye.

"Could it be?" Aquarius gasped as he sees The Castle of Dreams standing in the distance.

Aquarius begins heading toward it as he questioned, "Why is Cinderella's world...right here in the darkness?"

* * *

Inside the castle at the Organization's world, The World That Never Was, Zexina, the nobody of Ienza and No. VI, had walked through Twilight's View when a voice called out to her.

"Zexina! Zexina!" It belonged to Vexe, the nobody of Eve and No. IV, as she ran down the stairwell towards Zexina.

"I'm right here! What is it?" Zexina cried.

"Where's Lady Wonxas?" Vexe asked.

"Her usual spot," Zexina answered.

Vexe's eyes were widened with realization, "The 'Chamber of Repose'."

"Yes. Go and see for yourself."

But Vexe had trouble focusing as she shouted to Zexina, "That isn't funny!"

Then, she took a deep breath and walked past Zexina and muttered to herself, "I suppose I have no choice but to wait. But the clock is ticking. Time is running out! What to do...Why is she never around when I need her? It's almost as if she _knows_ I'm looking for her."

Zexina continued walking when yet another voice appeared, "Y'know, I didn't like that place, either."

She stopped and turned to see Xiggy, the nobody of Gigy and No. II of the Organization, sitting on top of a pipe.

Xiggy asked Zexina, "What about you, girlfriend? What do you think?"

"I think eavesdropping is intrusive," Zexina answered, "In fact, why are you even here? You and Xaldia were tasked to recruit new members. Have you forgotten? Or were you just procrastinating?"

"As if! I _am_ doing my job," Xiggy replied as she jumped down, "'Cause I'll have you know I happen to have found one just yesterday. 'Mar-' something. That puts our Organization's count at 11. And since I've been working so hard, I had Lexaes take my place for the day. I want to rest up for tomorrow, so I can wake up feeling nice and refreshed."

"Oh, is that so? Well then, I will leave you to it." Zexina waved Xiggy off and started walking as she continued, "I have work to catch up on. Good day."

But Xiggy ran up to Zexina and places a hand around her shoulder, "Don't be like that. C'mon, stay and talk. Isn't it time you told me about Wonxas's secret?"

Xiggy lets go of her hand and walked away as she tells Zexina, "How long ago was it? When a bunch of warriors wielding key-shaped swords appeared and unleashed a spectacular battle. And when it was all over, all that was left was a woman lying unconscious without her memories. Wonxas...er, I mean Xehanora, was found by Wonas right around then, wasn't she?"

"Your point?" Zexina asked.

Xiggy stopped as she answered, "The Chamber of Repose. If you recall, that's where we spent our time researching the darkness that resides within people's hearts. It's a graveyard that was sealed by order of Wonas the Wise. The first thing Wonxas did once she got rid of her was to undo the seal and build a room in the back. Ever since then, she holds himself up in that room when she can, and she talks to someone."

Xiggy turned back around to face Zexina as she continued, "But who? For all I know, she's the only one in that room."

Then, she walked back down the stairs towards Zexina.

"Do I have to repeat myself about eavesdropping?" Zexina asked.

"Not eavesdropping. Couldn't hear what they were saying. Dying to find out what it was though," Xiggy replied, "You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?"

"Well, I'll have you know that I much rather focus on my own duties...," Zexina said as she walked past Xiggy, "...as you should with yours. For we need to prepare the new facility immediately. But there are only eleven of us in the Organization. So, we're going to need a few _two_ more hands on deck."

"What new facility?" Xiggy asked, then she realized what Zexina meant, "Oh, you mean Castle Oblivion. What does Wonxas plan on doing with that place anyway?"

"She already shared her intentions with us," Zexina said.

"But did you know there's something she _DIDN'T_ share?" Xiggy asked as Zexina stopped. "The Chamber of Repose is part of a pair. But the Chamber of Waking is the other. Another graveyard, if you want to call it that. It was constructed by someone other than Wonxas herself. And that's where she'll find it..."

Zexina turned around as Xiggy continued, "Maybe that's where she'll find her other 'friend'"

They stare at each other as Xiggy was talking about who that other 'friend' would be: Vinnietus.

* * *

On the beach of the Destiny Islands, Sorette, now 14 years old, sleeped in the warm sunlight. Kai, who's also 14, ran toward her from the direction of the Seaside Shack.

The dreaming Sorette stirred at the sound of his footprints...

 _ **1**_

And that's where Sorette's first adventure begin...


	5. KH1, A Fragmentary Passage - Part 1

On and on - The darkness went on and on. With a tiny little light to guide her, she walked on and on.  
Sorette heard a soft voice - then she felt a presence.

 _There you are!_

 _So much to do. so little time._  
 _But take your time. Don't be afraid._  
 _The door is still shut._

 _Now, step forward. Can you do it?_

 _Power sleeps within you. Give it form...and it will give you strength._

 _And then, the light will shine where you are._

 _But don't be afraid. And don't forget._  
 _You hold the mightiest weapon of all._

 _So don't forget..._  
 _You are the one who will open the door._

And so, the door to destiny began to open.

* * *

 **Destiny Islands...**

As her eyes slowly opened, the sunlight streamed in dazzling bright. The sound of waves was the same as always, brushing softly against her mind.

Sorette got up and stretched. Before her the blue sky and sea stretched on and on. As far as she knew, it was the entire world.

These were the Destiny Islands, a little cluster of islets floating in the sea.

"What was that?"

She felt like she'd had a bad dream. Was it scary...? Nah, something about it felt...nice, too.

That voice - that light. And that dark shadow - And - was it really just a dream?

"Hey, Sorette!"

"Huh?"

Kai suddenly appeared in front of her. Sorette turned and smiled.

"Didn't see you there, Kai."

"Sorette, you silly bum. I knew that I'd find you down here."

Kai went up to Sorette and smiled. His red hair glinted in the brilliant light.

"Nah! Some huge, black THING just swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe! I couldn't-"

Whatever she was going to say got lost when Sorette took a deep breath.

"Were you dreaming?"

As he stared at her, Sorette began to feel uncertain about what she remembered. How could there be a dark monster thing like that around here, under such a bright sky?

"It wasn't a dream! Or wasn't it? I don't know..."

Sorette hung her head. Kai gave her a worried look and walked down to the water's edge.

"What was that place? So bizarre..." Sorette began to questioned herself, but then he turned to Kai and asked him, "Say, Kai, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up."

Kai stared out into the sea as he replied, "I've told you before, I don't remember."

"Nothing at all?" Sorette asked.

"Yeah, nothing." Kai answered.

"You ever thought about going back?"

"Well,...I don't know," Kai said, but he reassured Sorette, "But don't worry about it. I'm happy here. Although... I wouldn't mind going to see it."

"I'd like to see it too. Along with any other worlds out there. I wanna see 'em all!"

Sorette just didn't know what to say to Kai, but as she hesitated, Kai looked back with a smile.

"So what're we waiting for? We better start working."

"Hey! Aren't you guys forgetting about me?" Startled, Sorette and Kai turned and Rika was standing there, holding a log and laughing.

"So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft."

It was a very heavy log. Rika tossed it to Sorette with a shake of her silver hair.

Rika then turned to Kai, "And to think, you're just as lazy as she is!"

"So you noticed." Kai grinned and began ambling toward the inlet. "Okay, okay, we'll finish it together. I'll race you!"

"Huh? What, are you kidding?" Sorette hurried after him, and then Rika.

"Ready? Go!"

Kai was already running, but at his words the other two broke into full speed.

The sun was still high. They had plenty of work and fun ahead of them.

Sorette, Rika, and Kai had always dreamed of the outside world. On a beach in the Destiny Islands, the three friends began building a raft.

On the same island, pretty much any game the girls, along with Wakken, Tida, and Selpha, played was something competitive, and the perennial favorite was sword fighting. Just recently, Sorette and Rika had become good enough to beat Wakken once in a while. They were about even with Tida.

After that, Sorette enters the Secret Place and walked through an underground tunnel. It was their secret spot. Sorette and Rika had found it and told Kai.

"Haven't been in a while..."

Sorette sees the last mushroom near a wooden board in the wall and plucked it from the ground. Behind the mushroom is an old drawing of herself and Sorette that brings memories flooding back to her. She kneels on the ground, placing a hand on the drawing of Kai with a soft smile.

Her mind flashes back to when the two were little and drew each other on the wall, and they were still here. Sorette crouched down and softly touched the scribbles.

Suddenly, she heard a noise behind him and stands up swiftly. "Wh-who's there?"

It was a woman in a brown robe.

"I've come to see the door to this world," she declared in a deep voice. Sorette couldn't see the face beneath the hood. "This world has been connected."

"Wh-What are you talking about?"

The woman showed no reaction to Sorette and kept talking, "Tied to the darkness... Soon to be completely eclipsed..."

At that moment, a chill crept up Sorette's spine. "Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this! ...Huh?"

Sorette noticed an X that emblazoned upon its chest and then asked, "Wh-Where did you come from?"

She didn't answer the question but said slowly, "You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."

"So, you're from another world, aren't you?!"

"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little."

Sorette glared as she said, "Oh, yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

Sorette had been staring at the mysterious woman, but now she looked at the door.

 _That door_ , she thought. _That big one... I knew I didn't see it, just a while back...?_

"Just who are you-"

Sorette looked back again, but the woman was gone. She sighed, "What was that lady talking about, anyway?"

When Sorette left the cave, the sunlight made her blink. The island spread out before her with its sea and sky, and what happened in that cave seemed like a dream.

At least Sorette got some mushrooms she'd gathered in the cave, she began to ran down to Rika and Kai.

That woman - and the door. It did feel like a dream. No one would believe her if she said anything about it. Here on the Destiny Islands, there wasn't someone they didn't know. Not even anyone from across the ocean - no, wait, there was: Kai.

Sorette thought, _He came from across the ocean, people said. But he came from another world across the ocean, somewhere we've never seen or heard about. So, that's why..._

"Sorette, you okay?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sorette answered, rubbing her forehead.

"Okay," Rika replied, "It is getting late. We'll finish up tomorrow."

As the sun begins to set, Sorette, Kai, and Rika rest on the small island across the bridge and stare at the ocean. Sorette and Kai sit on the paopu tree as Rika leaned against it, her arms folded.

The sun sank lower toward the horizon, turning the sea and sand red.

They had watched this very scene together mant times, but to Sorette, it looked just a little bit different today. Something about it made her uneasy. If she could just see a different world...maybe something would change.

So Sorette wanted to try going somewhere else.

"So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" Kai asked Rika.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?" Rika paused for a moment, and then went on. "And suppose there are other worlds... Then, ours is just a little piece of something much greater..." Then, she turned to Sorette and kai. "So we could've just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

A little piece of something greater. Pretty complicated.

Not following, Sorette flopped over. "I have no idea."

Rika looked at her with a sigh and started to walked down toward the shore, "Exactly. That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kai said softly.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this." Rika thought back about a promise she made when she was little and met Terrina, then she turned away from the setting sun to look at him, "Kai, thanks."

"You're welcome." Kai said with a laugh, then turned to the sea again.

They started walking back to the dock. Rika lead the way as she took off for the pier at a brisk pace and told her two friends, "Better get going. We shouldn't stay out too late."

Later during the sunset, Sorette and Kai were at the edge of the dock.

Staring after Rika, Kai said in a tiny voice, "You know, Rika's changed."

"What do you mean?" asked Sorette.

"You don't think so?"

"Nah, just you."

Kai looked a little sad at that. But then, he blurted, "Sora, let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!"

"Huh?"

"I'm just kidding."

Sorette peered at Kai with a grin, "What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Kai."

"You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready." Kai looked at Sorette, speaking like he'd made up his mind. "No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?"

She ran to catch up with him, "Yeah, of course!"

"Glad to hear it...Sorette, don't ever change."

"Hmm?"

Kai smiled at her, "I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great."

"Yeah..." Sorette then turned around and catches a star-shaped fruit.

Rika asked Sorette, "You wanted one, didn't you?"

"A paopu fruit..."

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it."

"Very funny..."

As Sorette, Rika, and Kai head back, the sun was nearly gone now. The waves went on and on with their calm, soft rush.

* * *

 **Disney Castle,...**

A great trumpet fanfare rang out.

The castle stood tall against the clear sky. Broom servants swept by on their task of morning cleaning. This was Disney Castle.

Daisy Duck strode past the broom servants. As Queen Minnie's lady-in-waiting, her first order was to greet the queen.

She cleared her throat and knocked on a grand door that's ten times her size. A little-size door cut into the big door opened, and she entered the great hall.

Here, in the biggest room in the castle, was the king's and queen's throne, and Daisy walked up on it on the long red carpet.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. It's nice to see you this morn-what?"

The queen should've been sitting there. But the throne was empty. Instead the king's dog, Pluto, poked out from behind.

"Pluto?"

Hearing his name, Pluto trotted up to Daisy. She held a white envelope in his mouth.

"...What is this?"

Daisy took evelope and opened it to find a letter. The moment her eyes took in the writing...

" _Ooooooohhhhh...NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_ "

Daisy ran back out of the great hall, shouting all the way.

 _Daisy,_

 _Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble brewin'._

 _I don't know why, but the stars have been going out, one by one. And that_ _means disaster can't be far behind._

 _I'm sorry to leave you all, but I've gotta_ _go check into it. There's someone with a "key"—the key to our survival. So, as queen,_

 _I need you and Clarabelle to find that person, and stick with that person. Okay?_

 _We need that_ _key, or we're doomed! Go to Traverse Town and find Lea. She'll point you_ _in the right direction._

 _P.S._ _Would ya apologize to Mickey for me? Thanks._

That was the note she left behind. A very important letter from their beloved queen - and their dearest friend. If this was all true, things were serious. A strange problem with the stars vanishing from the night sky and disaster's on the way. Did it mean Queen Minnie had gotten involved in something really dangerous?

Daisy raced down the long hallway and out to the gardens. That's where she'd find Clarabelle, a royal advisor and another loyal friend.

"Clarabelle!"

"Huh?" Clarabelle blinked a few times and finally saw Daisy. "Hey there, Daisy. What is it?"

Daisy replied, "We've got a major problem? But don't tell anyone!"

Clarabelle was now quite grasping the urgency of the situation. She stretched, looking at Daisy. "...King Mickey?"

"No, not even the king!"

"Donald and Goofy?"

"Definitely not the boys! It's top secret!"

"Hello, boys."

Finally realizing what Clarabelle meant, Daisy turned around to see King Mickey, Captain Goofy of the royal knights, and his boyfriend, Donald the royal magician.

"What's going on?" Donald asked.

Hearing her boyfriend's voice, Daisy sighed and pointedly cleared her throat.

* * *

The castle's bell chimed the hour. Daisy, Clarabelle, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were all in the Library, deep in serious conversation.

"...And that's how it happened," said Daisy after explaining to the others.

Pluto sleeps in his bed as the group muses over the Queen's words.

"Wak! No way!" Donald was shocked.

"Gawrsh! What could this mean?" Goofy was worried.

"It means...we'll just have to trust Minnie on this one," Mickey replied softly.

"Oh dear, I hope she's all right," said Clarabelle, unhurried as usual.

Daisy went up to King Mickey and spoke with determination, "Your Majesty. Don't worry. We'll find Minnie and this 'key'."

"Thanks, girls."

"But Daisy-"

"Donald," Daisy reassured him, "You can take care of things while we're gone."

"Okay. Be careful," Donald sighed.

"Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you." King Mickey gestured toward...Jiminy Cricket.

Daisy peered closer, seeing Jiminy. "Oh, I see. Thanks!"

"Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket, at your service." Jiminy introduced himself as he bows with his top hat in his hand and sprang up onto Daisy's head, "I'll stay nice and quiet. No worries!"

With that Jiminy hopped onto Daisy's dress pocket and made himself at home.

"Jiminy said that his world disappeared," King Mickey explained.

"...Is this true?" Clarabelle asked.

Jiminy poked his head, "It was terrible. We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this castle."

"Oh, right...," Goofy said. "I gotcha. Ya mean, while we're in other worlds, we can't let on where we're from."

"You can't tell anyone you're come another world," Mickey told them firmly.

"Oh, to maintain the order of each world, right?" said Daisy.

"Right. World order," Goofy nodded as he laughed and Donald sighed.

It was a closely guarded secret that others could leave Disney Castle and travel to other worlds. If the secret got out, other people might try to go between worlds willy-nilly, and the order would break down.

"The Gummi Ship should be ready. We hope for your return. Please help Minnie," Mickey said.

Daisy and Clarabelle bowed down and went off as Daisy said, "I guess we'll need new clothes when we get there."

In the middle of the Gummi Ship factory, a giant red rocket ship sat waiting for Daisy and Clarabelle. This was the only kind of vessel capable of flying between worlds - a Gummi Ship.

As the girls got on, King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy had to see them off. Daisy gave a wave to the boys.

The engine started with a _bomf_! and the ship shook.

"Blast off!" Daisy pointed to the track ahead, but the arrow pointed down.

A hole in the door opened up and sucked in the Gummi Ship. It kept falling and finally popped out the other side of Disney Castle, then righted itself and sped into the stars.

* * *

 **Destiny Islands...**

Lightning flashed, and in nearly the same moment, rain came pattering down on the roof.

"...Rain? A storm?"

Sorette sat up and looked out the window. Since she came home, she'd been spacing out, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about what happened today and what was going to happen very soon.

The rain started to come down even very, very harder. Showers after sunset weren't that rare. The ocean was usually calm, but once in a while, there would be storms.

Lightning flashed again. Sorette could tell...

"OH NO! The raft?! And the rain's coming from our island!"

Sorette jumped out of bed, took her rowboat, and hurried to their island. There was a big reef surrounding it, so less than a hurricane wouldn't cause much damage. But at that moment, there was a raft Sorette had to worry about.

"If only the raft got drifted away...," Sorette muttered herself. Luckily, if the waves weren't very high, the raft should be okay if Sorette hadn't tied it good and tight it to a tree.

Rolling thunder enveloped the island. Sorette looked up at the night sky to see a ball of darkly glowing energy floating in the air. "What on earth is THAT?!"

When she climbed up onto the dock, Sorette saw that there were two other boats/

"That must be Rika's boat. And Kai's! They're here, too?"

She ran in from the dock to the beach, looking around warily. But then, some kind of shadow rose up from the ground, blocking her path.

"...What's going on?!"

Sorette tried to hit the creatures with her wooden sword, but it didn't faze them. Sorette gave up trying to beat them and ran along the beach, looking for Kai and Rika.

The wind swallowed up her voice as Sorette shouted their names. Holding the shadowy creatures at bay with her wooden sword, Sorette looked around again.

"Rika!" Sorette saw Rika just standing in the darkness, facing the sea, her silver hair whipping in the wind.

Sorette ran to her. "Where's Kai? I thought he's with you!"

Rika slowly turned as she spoke up, "The door has opened..."

"What?" Sorette asked, confused. Something wasn't quite right about Rika. She was different. And what was this about a door?

"The door has opened, Sorette! Now we can go to the outside world!

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kai!"

"Kai's coming with us!" Rika shouted at the top of her voice. "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

Smiling, Rika stretched out her hand toward Sora, but at her feet the darkness swarmed and grew, twisting itself around her legs - and in the blink of an eye, it had covered her completely.

"Riku!" Sorette shouted as she tried to run toward her, but she couldn't reach her. Rika was engulfed in darkness, and just as Sorette was about to be swallowed up, too, a light shone from inside it and drove it away.

For a momnet, Sorette shut her eyes against the brightness. When she opened her eyes, there was giant shining key in her hand. A voice echoed in her head...

 _Keyblade..._

With the Keyblade in her hand, Sorette looked around, but couldn't see Rika anywhere. "RIKA! WHERE ARE YOU?! RIKA!"

Sorette ran, swinging the Keyblade as she searched. Suddenly, the door was opening, almost as if to invite her inside. This was the only place left where Rika and Kai could be.

She raced back across the bridge and ran through a strange door over the entrance to the Secret Place, just the same as ever. The only difference was that glowing door at the end. And in front of the door, Kai stood silently staring at it.

"Kai!" Sorette dashed toward him.

He turned to look at her, slowly and sadly. "Sorette..."

The moment he reached out for her, the door began to open. Ink-black darkness erupted out, blowing him toward her like a blast from the explosion.

Sorette tried to catch Kai in her arms, but his body faded out. He passed through her and vanished.

After that, the island was destroyed by the Heartless. All that was remaining was a small piece of land, where a Darkside Heartless awaited Sorette.

She then fought the large Darkside Heartless, and afterwards a large, dark ball of energy sucked all of Destiny Islands.

With a terrible rumbling, it swallowed up the cocoyum tress, rowboats, even the sea...

Sorette strained to hold on to the wreckage of the wooden bridge, holding on for dear life, but the huge force pulled her off. In a swirl of debris, she fell into the dark sphere and disappeared.

Other worlds had met the same fate, and more would.

* * *

 **Traverse Town...**

The town always greeted everyone warmly.

This was Traverse Town. It was full of people who had nowehere else to go, who had lost their homes to those strange events. Daisy, Clarabelle, Jiminy, and Pluto had just arrived in the Gummi Ship. The woman the queen mentioned in her letter, the one who knew about the "key" was supposed to be somewhere.

"Where is that key...?" Daisy asked.

"Maybe we better find Lea...," said Clarabelle, walking alongside her.

Clarabelle then looked up at the night sky. It looked pretty much the same as it did from their home world, Disney Castle, which made her feel a little better. What with the stars going out, and the queen disappearing, and this "key"... There sure was a lot they didn't know and a lot that made her uneasy.

There was one star sparkling more brightly than the rest. What kind of star could it be...?

Just as Clarabelle thought that, it happened. Daisy looked up to where Clarabelle was pointing.

"Look, a star's goin' out!"

A bright star in the night sky sputtered and vanished out of existence.

"They really are going out..."

Clarabelle and Daisy had heard of it in the castle, but this was the first time they'd seen it happen. They thought of what the queen had said in the letter. " _Big trouble brewin'._ "

And it was really true - the stars were going out. That couldn't mean anything good.

Daisy and Clarabelle exchanged glances and started walking through town.

"Come on. Let's hurry."

Clarabelle then urged Pluto to follow, but being a dog and having a good sense of smell, Pluto had sniffed out...

...Sorette! She opened her eyes, then thought it was a dream.

"What a dream..."

But then Sorette realized that it wasn't a dream as she stood up, rubbing her eyes, and looked around. She was still in the same unfamiliar scene. Night sky spread out above like it did over Destiny Islands, but it looked a little hazier than she remembered.

"Oh, boy..." Sorette helplessly turned to Pluto, "You know where we are?"

But Pluto wagged his tail and scampered away.

"Hey, wait!" Sorette began to chase Pluto, but she ran down another ally, and couldn't see him anymore. As she walked a few steps forward, he realized this wasn't his island, or anywhere near. It was another world.

"This is totally weird... I'm in another world!"

It felt like she'd gotten lost in a fairy tale. There was nothing like this in the Destiny Islands - a town square laid with cobblestones and lit by lanterns.

So after she was sucked into that sphere, somehow she'd made it to another world?

But what about her home? And Rika and Kai?

As she went through the first district of the mysterious world, Sorette happened to stop by an equipment shop nearby. A young blonde woman named Cidney then introduced herself

and told Sorette that this sure as heck wasn't his island, and it sure wasn't anywhere close.

"Hmm... Guess I'd better start looking for Rika and Kai."

"Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doing." Cidney said, "If you ever run into trouble, you come to me."

Sorette then arrived at the second district, where a man was then attacked and fell to the ground, losing his heart.

It was the Heartless, yet again. Sorette then went back to the first district, only to find it was overrun by Heartless, too. She then went back to Cidney's shop.

"Still haven't found 'em? Keep your chin up. Take another look around town."

Feeling more encouraged, Sorette ran out of the shop again.

Then, she heard another woman's voice. "They'll come at you out of nowhere."

"Who are you?" Sorette jumped down the steps in front of the shop and turned with the Keyblade, ready to face the woman behind her.

"And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." The woman had a strange king of sword across her back, a huge gun with a blade at the end. Her long hair fluttered in the night breeze, and a smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.

Then, she let out a sigh, "But why? Why would it choose a kid like you?"

"What's that mean?"

"Never mind. Now, let's see that Keyblade."

The woman came closer. Sorette shifted, ready to fight. "What? There's no way you're getting this!"

She smiled coldly, "...All right, then have it your way."

The woman took out the strange sword - the Gunblade - and lunged straight for Sorette, and the two dueled.

After the battle, whether Sorette won or not, she then fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Whew..." The woman shouldered her Gunblade. From behind her, she heard someone's voice.

"Hey, you found it. Nice going, Lea."

She turned and a black-haired boy was standing there. He shrugged and grinned. With a giant shuriken strapped to his back, he looked like a fighter, too.

"Cidney told me everything," he said.

"Hmmm," The black-haired boy ran up to Sorette and knelt down to gently touch her head. For someone who'd lost a fight, the kid looked pretty uncomfortable, her eyes closed as if she was napping or still unconscious. "She's not hurt too badly."

"Still...I went easy on her," Lea put the Gunblade away and picked up Sorette to carry her on one shoulder, "It looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse."

* * *

 **Elsewhere,...**

Rika opened her eyes, seeing a large waterfall and crystalline rock platforms floating in the air. The sounds of the Rising Falls fill her ears, and she slowly stood up her feet.

"Where...am I?" Rika looked around at the area. The waterfalls flow upwards rather than downwards, filling her vision on nearly every side. She then called out her friends, "Sorette! Kai! Where are you?!"

Unbeknownst to her, her arrival was noticed by a tall figure in a black cloak with greenish-gray hand and long violet fingernails...

* * *

 **Back in Traverse Town,...**

Daisy and Clarabelle glanced every which way as they walked through the alleys of the Second District, having no luck in their search. The dim light complements the empty atmosphere.

"Goodness, there's nobody here," Clarabelle said, sounding spooked.

"Yeah, who knows what might... _AAH!_ "

Something poked Daisy in the back. She jumped and startled.

"Excuse me. Did the queen send you...?"

Standing behind them was a smiling young man in a red outfits, and brown boots, "You're looking for Lea. I'm Aeris. Nice to meet you."

* * *

 **Dark World: Castle of Dreams...**

 _I walk...on and on without end._

 _In the realm of light, do days or years pass with each step? I know something has started to go wrong._

"I must hurry," Aquarius said as he continued advancing toward the castle.

As he breaks out into a run, the stone path in front of her begins to quake and crumble. Aquarius stopped at the edge of the path before it collapses, and sighs while looking at the small remaining stone pillars.

"I guess I know which way I'm going," Aquarius hopped on the pillars to cross the gap and slides along the trail of ice at the end. He reaches the outskirts of the town at the base of the castle and looked around.

"I took it for granted. I thought I had nothing in life to lose," Aquarius closed his eyes and woefully reminisces about his past adventures as a Keyblade wielder, including the time he spent with Terrina and Vinnietus. He glanced in the direction of the nearby Castle of Dreams.

 _Here, too. Everyone in this world thought that they were safe. Not just the people...but the dog waiting for his owner...the cat curled up in her nook... So much life. Trees and flowers... There's no deeper sadness than discovering all that you knew is gone._

"The grief in this place is too much to fathom," Aquarius sighed and looked down despairingly, but picks his head back up and continued walking.

Aquarius passed through a courtyard and walks down the road leading to the castle. He noticed the castle's clock tower, its hands signifying midnight.

As he approached his destination, tremors erupt and the road ahead of him collapses. A bell tolls as the clock begins to quickly advance several hours.

Aquarius turned around and started running back to the courtyard, and jumped to safety just in time. He looked back at the chasm now separating him and the castle. The clock's hands have stopped moving, and now read five o'clock.

 _The road collapsed when the clock advanced._

Determined to reach the castle, Aquarius searched the town for the remaining four gears. Along the way, he battled many Heartless and traverses the warped and fragmented architecture of the realm of darkness.

While activating the final gear, Aquarius recalled one last memory and restored the road to the castle completely.

On his way back towards the castle, Aquarius was ambushed by a Demon Wave. Fighting for his life, Aquarius used every ability and magic spell he knew to take down the flurry of Darkness.

* * *

Her head was spinning. And it hurt a little, too.

"Hey, Sorette! Wakey-wakey!"

It was Kai's voice. Sorette regained consciousness, and Kai was staring into her face, looking worried.

"You okay?"

"I guess..." Sorette sat up slowly, hazily trying to focus on Kai. Was she dreaming?

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade."

"I'm so glad that you're okay, Kai..." Sorette sighed in relief. Now they had to find Rika and...

"Kai? Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja Yuffi."

"Huh?"

Sorette's world flashed and she looked closer at the dark-haired boy. His hair did look like Kai's, except that it wasn't the same color, and his face was different, too.

"Aaaaahh!" Sorette screamed and jumped back in fear. "What's going on?! GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU'RE NOT KAI! AAAAAHH!" She then fell down on the floor.

"Aaaaahh!" shouted Yuffi, thinking that this is how she thanked him, then laughed and turned to the woman standing behind him, "I think you might've damaged her brain or her noggin, Squalla."

"That's _Lea._ "

It was the woman Sorette fought in the square. She stiffened. "You're..."

It looked like they were in a room in the hotel she'd seen in the Second District. The bed Sorette had just woken up in was nice and soft, and next to her there was a cool, damp towel, used to ice her head. Sorette then see the Keyblade rested against the wall.

"Keyblade...?"

"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures," said Yuffi. "It turns out that's how they were tracking you."

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long. Still hard to believe that you, of all people, are the chosen one." Lea picked up the Keyblade and swung it through the air. It sparkled and flashed out of her hand and back into Sorette's. "Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

"Why don't you start making sense!" Sorette complained, pointing her Keyblade at Lea and Yuffi, "What's going on here? Tell me!"

Lea and Yuffi looked at each other.

At this point in time, in another room at the hotel, Daisy and Clarabelle listened to Aeris, patient and serious.

"Okay, you know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?"

"Why, yes," Daisy answered.

"But they're supposed to be a secret," Clarabelle said.

"They've been secret, because they've never been connected. Until now." Aeris looked down as his thoughts drift to nearly a decade earlier, "When the Heartless came, everything changed."

"The Heartless?" said Sorette.

"The ones who attacked you, you remember?" Yuffi replied.

"Those without hearts," Lea said.

"The darkness in people's hearts—that's what attracts them," Yuffi added.

"And there is darkness within every heart."

Yuffi looked toward Sorette and asked, "Hey, have you heard of someone named Wonas?"

"Wonas...?" Clarabelle cocked her head and exchanged glanced with Daisy. Neither of them heard a name like that.

"She was studying the Heartless. She recorded all of her findings in a very detailed report."

"Can we see it?" Clarabelle asked, but Aeris shook his head.

"The pages are scattered everywhere," Aeris said.

"Scattered?" said Daisy.

"To many worlds." Aeris answered.

Daisy thought aloud, "So, those Heartless show up... Then, the worlds were connected... And the stars were going out... And there's a report about Heartless... And Queen Minnie left..."

"Oh, then maybe she went to find 'em."

"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly," said Aeris.

"We've gotta find him quick!" Clarabelle said, as if they had to hurry right away.

"Yeah, but... First, we need that 'key'!" Daisy reminded her.

"That's right. The Keyblade." Aeris looked toward the neighboring room.

"So...this is the key?" Sorette held up the Keyblade, staring at it.

"Exactly!" Yuffi nodded.

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," said Lea. "That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what."

"But-but-but I didn't ask for this," Sorette protested.

"The Keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you!" Yuffi poked the Keyblade and gave Sorette a pat on the back.

"So, tough luck." Lea gave them a smile.

"How did all this happen? I remember being in my room..." Then, Sorette gasped sharply, looking to them frantically. "Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island? Rika! Kai!"

Lea shook her head.

"But...! No..."

"Calm down. There's still more to explain," Lea quieted her with a look. "Each world has a Keyhole. And each of them is connected to the heart of that world."

"The heart of a world...?"

"No one knows what it look like yet. But the Heartless come in search of them."

"They enter through the keyhole and do something to the world's core," said Yuffi, peering closely at Sorette.

"And?" Sorette asked.

"Darkness come out from the Keyhole. And then, the world disappeared."

"Just like my world...?" Sorette thought back. That great big door. The darkness that poured forth from it. The collapsing island...

All of a sudden, Sorette's heart was strong and drew the Heartless. Lea, Yuffi, and Sorette then left the room and jumped over to Aeris's room, with Daisy and Clarabelle.

After that, Daisy and Clarabelle went off to find the leader of the Heartless in Traverse Town, while Yuffi and Aeris stayed. Lea went off to the First District, and Sorette also went over to the Third District.

"Those are the Heartless?" said Clarabelle, hunkering behind her shield.

"Let's go get 'em!" Daisy readied her wand, and then -

"LOOK OUT!"

With a loud crash, the two of them are blasted off the balcony...

...and landed headfirst on Sorette.

Then, they recognized Sorette as the key-bearer, and after they deal with the Heartless in the town were destroyed, a large piece of Heartless armor landed down and attacked. Eventually, the Guard Armor was defeated, although not destroyed.

 **A few things explained later,...**

"So, you were looking for the key?" Sorette asked.

Daisy & Clarabelle nodded, "Uh-huh!"

"They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade," Lea answered and Yuffi nodded.

Sorette turned easily back to Daisy and Clarabelle.

"Hey, why don't you come with us?" Clarabelle said, taking a step toward Sorette. "We can go to other worlds on our vessel."

"I wonder if we could find your queen and my friends..." Sorette pondered at first.

Lea stepped forward, "Sorette, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."

"Okay, why not? I'll go with you girls," Sorette said with a real smile.

"Let's do this thing. By the way, I'm Daisy Duck." She held out her hand.

"Name's Clarabelle!" She placed her hand on top of Daisy's.

"And I'm Sorette!" Finally, Sorette did the same, adding her hand atop theirs. "GIRL POWER!"

With no more Heartless, Traverse Town felt a little quieter, but friendlier.

After that, Sorette, Daisy, and Clarabelle said goodbyes to Lea, Yuffi, and Aeris and got on board the Gummi Ship.

"We've got plenty of snacks, items, and accessories already."

"Okay, here we go. Let's hurry up and find Queen Minnie..." Daisy readying the ship.

"And Rika and Kai!" Sorette nodded and buckled up her seat-belt.

Clarabelle came after them. "And lock the Keyholes, too!"

So together, they took off into the Other Sky, to unknown worlds.

* * *

 **Wonderland**

After falling through a deep hole, Sorette, Daisy, and Clarabelle arrived in Wonderland and followed a white rabbit all the way to the Queen of Heart's castle. There they witnessed a trial in which the unreasonable queen falsely accused Alice.

"Hey, girls, I get this weird feeling that we shouldn't get involved," Sorette said, holding her Keyblade.

"Yeah, that'd be meddling," said Clarabelle. "We're not supposed to get involved with stuff on other worlds..."

"The court finds the defendant guilty as charged!" The queen's booming voice cut off their hushed conversation. "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart...!"

"Theft of her heart?" said Sorette. "Could she mean the Heartless, Daisy?"

But Daisy didn't answer, because she was about to marched into the trail to give Queen of Hearts a piece of her mind.

Sorette gasped, "Daisy, WAIT!"

"Off with her head!" the queen bellowed.

"No! No! Oh, please!"

Angered by this injustice, Daisy rushed in and challenged the queen. The girls found evidence proving Alice's innocence. But the queen simply accused them next, and ordered her card soldiers to seize them.

After fighting them off, Sorette noticed that Alice is still in her cage, alive and well.

"My name is Alice. Who are you?"

"I'm Sorette, and this is Daisy and Clarabelle."

Alice smiled a little. "Pleased to meet you."

Along the way, they discovered exotic things here in Wonderland, but ran into trouble when they find themselves face-to-face with a large Heartless, the Trickmaster. With Alice's help, they defeated the powerful monster, and Wonderland was saved.

The Doorknob woke up, and then yawned. When its mouth opens, a keyhole is revealed. Suddenly, Sorette emits a beam from the Keyblade, and a door is heard closing.

After that, the world is locked away from the Heartless. Once the Keyhole is sealed, the Doorknob drops a mysterious gummi piece, unlike any others.

The girls said goodbye to Alice, and headed off to the next world...

* * *

 **Meanwhile,...**

The black shadows gathered around a stone pedestal. In the center of it was a ring of light, showing a vision of Sorette, Daisy, and Clarabelle.

"That little squirt took down that Heartless! Who'd have thought it?"

"Such is the power of the Keyblade. The child's strength is not her own."

"Why don't we turn her into a Heartless? That'll settle things quick enough."

"And the brat's friends are the queen's lackeys. Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats by the look of them."

"You're no prize yourself."

"Shut up!"

Jafar, Ursula, Capt. Hook, and Hades had begun to argue. A chilly voice cut them off. "Enough!"

This was Maleficent in a cloak as black as the shadows. With a sweep of her cloak, she smiled. "The Keyblade has chosen her. Will it be she who conquers the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow her? Either way, she could be quite useful."

"But the girl is a problem," said Jafar. "She has been finding the Keyholes."

"Fear not. It will take her ages to find the rest," Maleficent replied, her gaze locked on Sorette, Daisy, and Clarabelle in the ring of light. "Besides, she remains blissfully unaware of our other plan."

"Yes, the princes...," Ursula said, grinning.

"They are falling into our hands, one by one. Speaking of which..." Maleficent gestured her staff to the prisoners, who had gone missing - Prince Phillip, Prince Charming, and The Prince.

* * *

 **Dark World: Castle of Dreams...**

Aquarius approached the gates to the road, taking one final glance at the town before departing.

"Not even memories...are safe from the darkness," Aquarius said as he entered the Castle of Dreams and stops in front of the foyer staircase. He looks up at the clock, whose hands rest at midnight once again.

"What I wouldn't give to really turn back time...," Aquarius looked up at the star-filled night sky. "To spend one more night beneath the stars with my best friends."

Aquarius reached his hand out to the sky longingly, and with a shocked expression, brings it back. He looked down, sullenly and sighed, "I'm doing it again."

Then, a voice appeared, "Aquarius."

The woman's voice rang out and startled Aquarius. Turning around, he saw someone he wasn't expecting to see.

It was Terrina.

"It can't be. What are you doing here? You should be in the realm of light," Aquarius panicked.

The Castle of Dreams had been taken into Darkness and Terrina was down there as well. Could the Realm of Light-?

"Oh no! Didn't you make it out? Don't tell me. Has the Realm of Light-?"

Terrina didn't say another word. Aquarius approaches her warily, "Why aren't you say anything?"

Aquarius reached out for her hand, but he went right through her. "What are you, a memory among these shadows? Are you here to...try and tell me not to lose heart?"

Terrina vanished and Aquarius was alone once more.

He proceeded to walk up the Castle steps, but turned back and looked towards the town once more.

 _The world keeps our thoughts alive. But where did the people_ _who lived here go, once their world was taken away?_

Aquarius took solace in the fact that those people weren't in the Realm of Darkness with him, sharing his fate.

Aquarius closed his eyes and lays his fist on his chest, "At least they're not here. So, maybe they haven't fallen to darkness. I'll take what solace I can from that."

Aquarius walked up the stairs with his hope renewed.

* * *

 **Dark World: Dwarf Woodlands...**

Aquarius crossed a small wooden bridge and found herself in a familiar forest clearing, "Another world lost to the darkness?"

To the right of a small cabin with a straw roof was a glass coffin, the same coffin where he once witnessed Prince Charming wake Snow White.

Aquarius ran to the coffin and couldn't believe that he saw Vinnietus sleeping inside!

Then, he noticed a glass coffin close to his right, "Is that...?"

He walked over to the coffin and gasped as he see who was inside, "Vinnie!?"

Aquarius looked at Vinnietus's unconscious body inside, but a moment later, she vanished.

Was she another illusion, just like Terrina? Terrina reminded Aquarius to not lose his heart while he walks among the shadows, but why had Vinnietus appeared?

Aquarius recalled her sleeping in a room within Castle Oblivion as thought, _Vinnie. What did you come here to tell me? I know I promised to wake you up. I'm sorry. But I have to find a way home before I can help you. I just want you to know that it's been you that keeps my heart strong. Keeps the dark away._

Aquarius felt something unusual in the forest clearing. He turned around and spotted a mirror. Surely that wasn't there before?

"It's a mirror...," Aquarius said as he approached the mirror and placed his hand on the glass. The mirror shone bright and a hand pulled him.

"What the-!?" Aquarius shouted as he was dragged into the mirror, and emerges through another mirror inside a large chamber.

* * *

 **Olympus Coliseum**

When they arrived at the Coliseum, Sorette, Daisy, and Clarabelle marched inside and found Phil working. Phil asked Sorette to push a pedestal over to him.

She then tried, but couldn't push it. Phil turned around and saw Sorette, Daisy, and Clarabelle, thinking that it was Hercules who had come around. Phil then told them to shove off, since he was preparing stuff for a competition of heroes versus Heartless in the Olympus Coliseum.

Daisy knocked some sense into Phil, telling him that the trio were heroines.

Phil still didn't buy them, even though he himself couldn't push the pedestral. As Sorette walked out, rather disappointed, Hades, the lord of the Underworld, arrived.

Hades then gave Sorette a pass to the tournament. But why? Why would an evil person such as Hades give her a pass?

Sorette didn't know it at the time, but Hades had an evil intent on getting Sorette killed in the tournament, and then dealing with Hercules.

Hades plotted to destroy Sorette and Hercules, but failed.

First, Cloudia failed to carry out her orders, then Cerberus was defeated.

But Hades did not give up on his goal—to rule the worlds as the king of darkness. He hosted the Hades Cup to deal with Sorette personally. Overcoming tough trials, Sorette and the girls defeated Hades.

* * *

 **Secret Ansem's Report 4 (Wonas the Wise/DiZa)**

 _The distant days spent in that beautiful paradise are an illusion to me now._

 _How long have I been here, banished to the realm of nothingness?_

 _It is only by relying upon my anger and hatred that I have been able to retain my sense of self here where all existence is nullified._

 _My heart is being overcome with hatred toward my apprentices, possessed by the darkness, and with the anger I feel for stupidly allowing myself to be betrayed._

 _Is this darkness, eating away at my heart?_

 _I cannot continue to idle away my time here._

 _What are Xehanora and the others attempting to do?_

 _I must unravel the mystery of these Wonas's Reports, intercept my apprentices, and defeat them._

 _That is my mission...the only way to repay the world for my sins._

 _Those beings who lack hearts—the Heartless—must be the key._

 _The darkness of the heart, made flesh. Cursed shadows who not only lack hearts, but multiply by seizing hearts from any and all living things._

 _Where have they come from, and where are they going?_

 _Three elements combine to create a life: a heart, a soul, and a body._

 _But what of the soul and body left behind when the heart is lost?_

 _When the soul leaves the body, its vessel, life gives way to death, but what about when the heart leaves?_

 _A being does not perish when its heart leaves its body. The heart alone disappears into the darkness._

 _There is little time._

 _If I remain in this realm much longer, I will certainly learn these answers the hard way._

 _My heart is already a captive of the darkness._

* * *

 **Dark World: Dwarf Woodlands...**

Discovering that the path back is blocked, Aquarius approached a chamber full of mirrors.

Around the mirrors were zodiac signs, and the crumbled ruins were encased in giant diamonds. Three mirrors circled Aquarius before floating to take their place around the chamber.

As Aquarius dived into each mirror, he was confronted with demons and puzzles. The darkness sent wave after wave of enemies to defeat the Master, but he fought valiantly, and solved each puzzle with finesse.

The three mirrors that circled him contained additional demons, but this one was unlike any other he faced before.

Inside an unusual chamber, Aquarius approached a mirror and out walked a version of his own self.

"Only your heart is hollow enough to be a demon's," the phantom Aquarius's words rang loud and clear throughout the chamber.

"That's not true! My heart is strong! I'll prove it!" Aquarius responded back, as a battle between himself and his phantom began.

"Terrina, Vinnie...and now my own phantom? What could it all mean?" Aquarius asked himself.

Each time Aquarius destroyed a phantom, the mirror that contained the demon broke.

He wondered the meaning of it all. Why was Terrina there? Why was Vinnie there? Why were these Phantoms trying to destroy him?

Finally Aquarius completed each challenge and was allowed to move forward.

"That's all of them. Terrina and Vinnie didn't have anything to say. But my shadow... He wanted to destroy me."

After returning to the main chamber, the last mirror cracked, Aquarius made his way back to the mirror he initially entered from as he spoke, "Never would have thought I'd become my own worst enemy."

Aquarius sighed and places a hand on the mirror, "I've talked to myself a lot since falling into these shadows. But with that phantom, it's as though that all of my doubts have gained a voice of their own. He's the weakness in my heart."

He turned away from the mirror as he thought, _I know I'm alone here. Have the uncountable hours in the shadows whittled away the courage I never really had?_

Aquarius clutches his chest, "I'm losing this fight. The darkness has found the cracks in my heart."

He then looked into the mirror, seeing his reflection as he thought, _Is this...the last apparition before it takes me over?_

Aquarius then left The World Within.

* * *

 **Traverse Town: Second Visit**

On their second visit to Traverse Town, the nighttime city was calm and friendly.

"Not a single Heartless in the 1st District..." Daisy looked around.

The girls ran over to Yuffi, who was standing by the post office in the 1st District square.

"Hey, Sorette!" Yuffi greeted them with a smile. "Welcome back! Lea's probably at the underground cavern. He trains there often. You know, the channel in the alleyway is connected to the cavern."

Sorette, Daisy, and Clarabelle crashed through a waterway in the 2nd District, and entered a chamber and found Lea and Aeris inside. The two tell them that there's a Keyhole in every world, so Sora just has to seal all of them to keep the Heartless away from them.

Clarabelle then showed Lea the Gummi, and Aeris suggested to show it to Cidney.

The girls went back to the First District's Accessory Shop. There, they showed the gummi to Cidney, who told them that it was a navigation gummi, which would enable them to travel to even more worlds. She would install it, but she told them to deliver a very old book first, to an empty house at the Third District.

So, Sorette and the others took the book and then made their way over to the Third District, and then Daisy cast a Fire spell on a door to made it open.

The girls ducked into the house through the hole. It looked abandoned. Sorette glanced from side to side, and...

"There's something about this musty place..."

Sorette turned. That voice - it was Kai's voice she'd just heard!

"It reminds me of the secret place back home," Kai was standing there. His red hair shook as he turned his smile to Sorette. It was Kai. That smile was the same as she remembered, the same as when they'd last parted on Destiny Island, "Where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?"

"Kai..." Sorette reached for his hand.

"Sorette?"

It was Clarabelle's voice from behind her. Sorette turned, and then when she looked back again to where Kai stood - but no one was there.

"Well, well. You've arrived sooner than I expected."

Next to the wall stood Merlin, the sorcerer.

"Wha... You knew we were coming?" said Sorette, walking up to him.

"Of course. My name is Merlin. As you can see, I am a sorcerer. I spend much of my time traveling. It's good to be home. Your king has requested my help."

"Queen Minnie?" said Clarabelle. It was the first news they heard of the queen since their journey began.

"Yes, indeed. Daisy, Clarabelle... And who might you be, young lady?"

"I'm Sorette."

"...Ah. So, you have found the key." Merlin nodded and stared at her closer. "Just a moment..."

Right before the trio's eyes wide-opened, the ramshackle house turned into Merlin's home.

Merlin then told Sorette to go back to Cid's Accessory Shop. Sorette then left the Magician's Study, and then outside on the 3rd District, several Heartless appeared.

But then they were all defeated by none other than Riku.

"There you are. What's going on?"

It was a voice Sorette knew. Silver hair gleamed in the dark night. Sorette looked up, and it was - "Rika?!"

She walked up to Rika, hugging her.

"Oh, thank gosh. I've found you," said Rika, smiling and hugging Sorette as well. The two girls squealed in reunion.

"This is Rika?" asked Clarabelle.

"Yes! The one I've been looking for!" Sorette grinned, then letting go of Rika. "I'm not dreaming this time, right?"

"I hope not. Took forever to find you. Wait a second, where's Kai?"

"Isn't he with you?" asked Sorette.

It looked like while Sorette thought that Kai was with Rika, Rika assumed that he had to be with Sorette, too.

"He's not with you, either."

Rika patted Sorette's shoulders and smiled. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure he made it off the island, too. We're finally free. Hey, he might even be looking for us now. We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me."

"But I've been learning a lot of skills while looking for you and Kai, too, with their help." Sorette rested the Keyblade on her shoulder and turned to Daisy and Clarabelle.

"Who are they?"

"Uh, we're Daisy Duck and Clarabelle Cow..." Daisy said, introducing herself and Clarabelle. Then, she looked at Sorette.

"We've visited so many places and worlds," Sorette added, "looking for their queen and you."

"Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed."

At Rika's reply, Daisy and Clarabelle each put an arm around Sorette.

"And guess what, Sorette's the Keyblade master!" said Clarabelle.

"This is called a Keyblade?" Rika held it in her hand. She laughed a little and tossed the Keyblade back to her. "Catch!"

"Oh,..." Sorette fumbled to catch it and then stared at Rika. "so you're coming with us, right? We've got this awesome rocket. Wait 'til you see it!"

But Daisy told Sorette not to let Rika come with them, because that would be meddling, "What?! Are you crazy?! She can't come!"

"She's my friend! We just found each other!"

"No! The World Order must be kept," Daisy shouted.

As they were talking, Rika then disappeared!

After a moderate fight with the Opposite Armor, Sorette then sent a beam through her Keyblade, sealing the Keyhole and stopping the Heartless.

The trio was still happy that Rika was safe, however. After that, they then entered a small house nearby, and found Cidney, Lea, Aeris, and Yuffi inside.

"You guys ever hear of Maleficent?" Cidney asked them, her voice hushed.

"Who's she?"

"A witch, man, she's a witch!" Cidney folded her arms.

Lea went on explaining, "She's the reason this town is full of Heartless. Don't take her lightly."

"She's been using the Heartless for years," said Aeris, looking down.

"We lost our world, thanks to her." Lea looked at Cidney.

"One day, a swarm of Heartless took over our world!" Cidney said finally. "...That was nine years ago. I got out of that mess and came here with these guys."

"That's awful!" Daisy mumured, looking troubled.

"Our ruler was a wise woman named Wonas," said Lea. "She dedicated her life to studying the Heartless. She's searching for some way to get rid of them for good."

"I'm sure Maleficent's got most of the pages...," Cidney said grimly.

"Then, we'll find them!" Sorette spoke up.

Aeris smiled at her. "Thanks, Sorette."

Outside the window, two shadowy figures stood watching the scene. One was Rika. And the other...

"You see? It's just as I told you."

Rika made no reply to Maleficent, but kept staring into the window.

"While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, she quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidently, now she values them far more than she does you," Maleficent murmured to her, terribly gently. "You're better off without that wretched girl. Now, think no more of her and come with me. I'll help you find what you're searching for..."

But Rika only went on gazing at Sorette through the window. She knew that Sorette was looking for her with Daisy and Clarabelle's help, but she had to play along with whatever plan Maleficent is up to...

 _ **To be continued...**_


End file.
